Taebaek and Gwangju Hold Sacred Water Collection Ceremony for Gyeonggi Provincial Sports Festival at Geomryongso, Source of the Han River

Taebaek City in Gangwon Province (Mayor Lee Sangho) announced on April 10 that it held a sacred water collection ceremony at the Geomryongso area, the source of the Han River, to pray for the successful hosting of the 72nd Gyeonggi Provincial Sports Festival and the 16th Gyeonggi Provincial Disabled Sports Festival 2026 in Gwangju.

Taebaek City (Mayor Lee Sangho) held a sacred water collection ceremony on the 10th at geomryongso, the source of the Han River, to pray for the successful hosting of the 72nd Gyeonggi Province Sports Festival and the 16th Gyeonggi Province Disabled Sports Festival 2026 Gwangju. Provided by Gyeonggi Gwangju City

This event was hosted by Gwangju City in Gyeonggi Province, a sister city of Taebaek. It was organized to commemorate the "sacred water collection," which marks the beginning of the torch and sacred water ceremonies and signals the start of the sports festivals, based on the cooperative relationship between the two cities.

Approximately 30 officials from both cities attended the ceremony, including Kim Donggyun, Deputy Mayor of Taebaek City, Kim Chungbeom, Deputy Mayor of Gwangju City, Park Beomsik, President of the Gwangju City Sports Association, and Nam Yoonkoo, Executive Vice President of the Gwangju City Disabled Sports Association.

The event began with a welcoming address from the Deputy Mayor of Taebaek City and a greeting from the Deputy Mayor of Gwangju City, followed by the sacred water collection, the delivery of a moon jar (from Taebaek City to Gwangju City), and the pouring of the sacred water into the sacred torch vessel.

The collected sacred water will be transported to Gwangju City, where it will be combined with sacred water from 31 cities and counties across Gyeonggi Province, symbolizing the unity of Gyeonggi Province residents throughout the festival period.

Kim Donggyun, Deputy Mayor of Taebaek City, said, "I hope that the pure energy of Geomryongso, the source of the Han River in Taebaek, will be delivered to Gwangju City and lead to the successful hosting of these sports festivals. We will continue to promote ongoing exchanges with our sister city, Gwangju, in various fields in the future."

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