Yeosu-si Wins 'Excellence Award' at the 1st Coastal Maintenance Project Best Practice Competition

Honored with the Overall Excellence Award for the 'Soho District Coastal Maintenance Project'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Yeosu City (Mayor Kwon Oh-bong) announced that the Soho District Coastal Maintenance Project won the grand prize at the first-ever "1st Coastal Maintenance Project Best Practice Competition" held this year.

The coastal maintenance project is an initiative to protect the coastline from erosion and create waterfront spaces where the public can enjoy the sea. Since 2000, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has invested a total of 1.3 trillion KRW to complete 443 coastal maintenance projects nationwide up to this year.

This competition was held to select exemplary cases of coastal maintenance projects and share their achievements. Considering the COVID-19 situation, it was conducted in the form of an online video conference.

Ten projects selected through a preliminary written evaluation were assessed by a panel of experts in various fields, who evaluated project effectiveness and contribution to regional development. The Soho District Coastal Maintenance Project in Yeosu City was selected as the excellence award winner in the waterfront coastal project category.

The Soho District, despite being surrounded by large apartment complexes, lodging facilities, and restaurants, had a significant lack of cultural spaces such as exhibitions and arts where people could enjoy themselves.

Accordingly, Yeosu City invested 3 billion KRW each from national and city funds to promote the coastal maintenance project from 2013 to 2016, creating a 742-meter beach promenade and a waterfront plaza.

The Soho District marine cultural space has established itself as a representative area symbolizing the Yeosu Night Sea and is evaluated to have greatly contributed to attracting 13 million tourists annually to Yeosu City.

A city official stated, "We will enhance the effectiveness of coastal maintenance projects that preserve the coastline and protect citizens' lives and property," adding, "We will also make every effort to ensure that the currently planned Soho 2 District Coastal Maintenance Project becomes a nationwide best practice by modeling it after excellent project cases."