Mayor Donghwan Lee: "Towards a Performance and Festival City Reflecting K-Culture Identity... Expecting a Hub for Cultural and Arts Festivals"

Selected as an ‘Excellent’ Institution in the 2024 Data-Driven Administration Evaluation
Increased Public Transportation Usage with the Opening of GTX-A
Need for Strategies to Develop Promising City Businesses such as Coffee and Nuts into Representative Products
Establishment of Smart Farms Utilizing Idle Spaces such as Underground Passages

On the 19th, Lee Dong-hwan, Mayor of Goyang Special City, held an executive meeting on the 20th floor of the Baekseok Annex to review major issues by department.

Lee Dong-hwan, Mayor of Goyang Special City, held an executive meeting on the 20th floor of the Baekseok Annex on the 19th to review major pending issues by department. Photo by Goyang Special City

First, Mayor Lee announced that the ‘Goyang Haengju Cultural Festival’ and the ‘Goyang Lake Art Festival’ were selected for the Gyeonggi Representative Tourism Festival contest project.

Mayor Lee Dong-hwan said, “Last year’s Goyang Lake Art Festival showcased a fantastic drone show using 1,000 drones, attracting 460,000 visitors, demonstrating the potential for development of cultural and artistic festivals.” He added, “The Goyang Haengju Cultural Festival is reinterpreting the historical value of Haengju Fortress and the Battle of Haengju in a modern way. I ask that each festival incorporate its unique identity so that Goyang City can become known as a ‘festival city.’”

Next, Mayor Lee mentioned the news that Goyang City was selected as an ‘Excellent’ institution, the highest grade, in the ‘2024 Data-Driven Administration Evaluation’ hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. He said, “This excellent evaluation was the result of practical data utilization cases such as identifying optimal locations for CCTV installation, revitalizing tourism at Haengju Fortress, and big data analysis related to the Goyang Tourism Special Zone.” He added, “We plan to continuously expand data analysis and utilization, and from March, we will establish and operate an AI Innovation TF team to improve citizen convenience and work efficiency.”

Mayor Lee also emphasized the development of specialized products for promoting Goyang City, stating, “Beyond formal promotion, we need content and products that genuinely attract visitors’ interest.” He urged, “Discover industries that the city is doing well in, develop representative products like Chuncheon Potato Bread, and promote impactful publicity through these products.”

After receiving a report on the smart farm project utilizing the underground passage, an idle facility in the city center, Mayor Lee said, “We are reorganizing underground spaces that have lost their utility, such as creating a strawberry cultivation smart farm using the Madu underground passage.” He added, “Since the smart farm project is important for fostering future agriculture, please also focus on attracting companies with diverse technological capabilities to establish a Goyang-type smart farm village in the future.”

Mayor Lee stressed the need to improve accessibility to mental health services, noting that one in four adults experiences mental illness at least once in their lifetime, but the utilization rate of mental health services is only 12%.

Lee Dong-hwan, Mayor of Goyang Special City, is holding an on-site executive meeting on the 19th. Photo by Goyang Special City

Mayor Lee said, “Last year, we cooperated with 132 institutions to identify 221 people at risk of suicide and provided practical support such as support services and treatment costs.” He urged, “Please make efforts so that both citizens and public officials can enjoy a healthy, happy, and relaxed life through various mental health programs such as the Todak Todak Bus and psychological counseling vouchers.”

Meanwhile, at the executive meeting, the directions for major issues by department were reviewed, including △K-Culture Valley complex development project △preparations for attracting large-scale performances △Dream School campus establishment △installation of Goyang Special City investment promotion center △expansion of base spaces at Ilsan Complex Community Center.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.