From Bookstores to Traditional Markets... Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Engages with Culture and Tourism Sites in Miryang

Minister Choi Hwi-young Visits Miryang on May 14-15
Reviewing Five Years of Cultural City Achievements and Demand for Half-Price Travel

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is conducting inspections of local culture and tourism sites in Miryang, Gyeongnam Province, which connect regional bookstores, cultural cities, traditional markets, half-price travel, and the Tourism Dure initiative. The purpose is to invigorate the domestic market by linking unique local content with tourism consumption.

Choi Hwiyoung, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will visit cultural and tourism sites in Miryang, Gyeongnam from the 14th to the 15th to hear opinions from related personnel. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

On May 14, the ministry announced that Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young would visit cultural and tourism sites in Miryang, Gyeongnam Province from May 14 to 15 to hear the opinions of stakeholders. Miryang is working with the Ministry to promote projects such as the 'Cultural City' designation, the 'Half-Price Travel' program which supports local holidays, and the Tourism Dure initiative, all based on the city's unique cultural assets such as Miryang Arirang.

As his first activity, Minister Choi will visit Cheonghak Bookstore's Sammun branch, a local bookstore in Miryang that opened in 1961. Cheonghak Bookstore is the oldest bookstore in Miryang and has been operated by two generations. At the bookstore, Minister Choi will participate in the 'Bookstore Concert,' a reading culture program, and then meet with representatives from five local bookstores in Miryang to discuss the current status of book purchases by public and school libraries, challenges in the book supply process, and ways to support local bookstores.

The minister will also inspect the local Cultural City project. Miryang was designated a Cultural City in 2021 and marks its fifth year in 2024. The city was selected as the top performer in both the 2024 and 2025 performance evaluations, and based on its 2024 achievements, was also chosen as the "Cultural City of the Year."

Minister Choi will attend the performance "Please Look at Me," a modern reinterpretation of Miryang Arirang as a creative play, and visit the multipurpose cultural space "Byeotnyu" to have discussions with young entrepreneurs.

On May 15, the minister will participate in a campaign at Miryang Arirang Market to eradicate price gouging and unkind service in traditional markets. Miryang Arirang Market is a key tourist attraction with an average of about 4,800 daily visitors. Minister Choi will review the market's readiness to accommodate tourists together with local merchants and listen to opinions from the field on how to revitalize local tourism.

Inspections of the "Half-Price Travel" program will also continue. Miryang is one of the first regions to launch the Half-Price Travel initiative, and demand has been so high that advance reservations for May were closed within a day. Minister Choi will visit Yeongnamnu Pavilion and Miryang Eupseong Fortress, both certified Half-Price Travel destinations, to check for any inconveniences from the perspective of travelers.

The minister will also meet with Tourism Dure stakeholders. Miryang was selected as a target region for the Tourism Dure program in 2024 and is now in its third year of implementation. Minister Choi will encourage the Tourism Dure producer and representatives of local community businesses, and announce plans to foster about 100 new youth businesses in non-metropolitan regions using the 3.1 billion won supplementary budget for Youth Tourism Dure, which was finalized this April.

Minister Choi stated, "Regional tourism is a key growth engine to revive the domestic economy, which has been weakened by events such as the Middle East war. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will thoroughly implement policies to revitalize local bookstores, foster cultural cities, and expand the Half-Price Travel program, and will also reflect feedback from the field in our policymaking."

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