14th National Metropolitan City Gimhae, 40th Anniversary of City Promotion Citizens' Day Ceremony Held

Mayor Heo Seong-gon of Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam is delivering a commemorative speech. [Image source=Gimhae-si]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] On the 10th, Gimhae City in Gyeongnam held the 2021 Gimhae Citizens' Day ceremony both online and offline to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its elevation to city status.

The ceremony held at the Gimhae Western Culture Center was attended by 50 people, including Mayor Heo Seong-gon of Gimhae, National Assembly members Min Hong-chul and Kim Jeong-ho, Chairman Song Yoo-in of the Gimhae City Council, and citizens.

The event began with a pre-ceremony performance by the Municipal Gayageum Ensemble, followed by the reading of the Citizen Charter by a firefighter and a nurse selected as citizen representatives who have done their best in their duties at the quarantine site, the presentation of the Gimhae Culture Award and the Beautiful Face of Gimhae Award, sharing congratulatory videos from domestic and international sister cities and citizens from various sectors, and concluded with the sealing ceremony of the Memory Box for the new leap of the 2000-year-old Gaya royal capital.

In accordance with COVID-19 quarantine guidelines, the city limited on-site participation and connected online with residents representing 19 eup, myeon, and dong districts using the video conferencing system (ZOOM) to celebrate together.

Mayor Heo said, “The reason we were able to grow and develop into the 14th largest metropolitan city nationwide is because of the sweat and dedication of our Gimhae citizens,” adding, “Based on the solid roots of the 2000-year-old Gaya royal capital, we will repay by becoming a sustainable and livable happy city.”

Meanwhile, Gimhae City, which was elevated from Gimhae-eup to city status in 1981, grew from a small city in the eastern Gyeongnam region with a population of 170,000 and a budget of 12.7 billion won, to the 14th largest metropolitan city nationwide with a population of 560,000 and a budget of 1.9 trillion won after the 1995 integration of Gimhae County and urban-rural areas.