Gwangju City, Positive Signs for the Asia Culture Centered City Development Project

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 2nd that it received approval from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for 47 projects worth 196.5 billion KRW related to the ‘2021 Annual Implementation Plan for the Creation of an Asia Culture Centered City’ on the 31st of last month, signaling a green light for securing next year’s national budget.

The major projects approved by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism include 10 new projects such as ▲Creation of a cultural bridge connecting tradition and modernity in the visual media zone ▲Establishment of the Biennale cultural and artistic district ▲Construction of the Asia Cultural Diversity Promotion Center ▲Establishment of the Asia Art Archiving Platform ▲Creation of the Asia eSports Industry Education Platform.

Additionally, there are 37 ongoing projects including ▲Operation of the Asia Culture and Arts Activation Hub Program ▲Creation of the 5G-based Culture Station Asia Smart Tourism Road ▲Construction of an outdoor music hall within Sajik International Cultural Exchange Town ▲Creation of the Asia Art Garden ▲Establishment of the UNESCO Media Art Creative City Platform ▲Creation of the Gwangju Immersive Content Cube, totaling 47 projects.

This project plan focuses on enhancing the execution power of the Asia Culture Centered City project by creating a cultural urban environment centered on five major cultural zones, based on the second revised plan from 2018.

With only three years left in the project period, Gwangju City plans to maximize securing the national budget to improve the completeness of the five major cultural zone projects.

Efforts will be made to secure national funding to ensure smooth progress of ongoing projects such as the UNESCO Media Art Platform (scheduled for completion in 2021) and the Gwangju Immersive Content Cube construction project (scheduled for completion in 2021). For newly approved projects, thorough compliance with preliminary procedures such as preliminary feasibility studies and local fiscal investment reviews will be ensured.

Regarding the operator of the National Asia Culture Center, as a supplementary measure for Article 2 of the Supplementary Provisions of the Special Act on the Creation of an Asia Culture Centered City, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism revised the enforcement decree of the special act (effective March 31, 2020) to establish grounds for maintaining the current operating system, including conducting a performance evaluation by the end of this year.

The amendment bill to the special act currently pending in the National Assembly (originally proposed by Representative Kye Kyung-hwan on August 7, 2019) will be actively promoted in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to ensure its passage in the 20th National Assembly.

Kim Jun-young, Director of the Culture, Tourism and Sports Office of Gwangju City, said, “The policy council between Gwangju City and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is cooperating and communicating better than ever before,” and added, “We will do our best to secure the national budget to enhance the execution power of the Asia Culture Centered City project through consensus on securing next year’s national budget.”