Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to Hold Policy Forum on June 8 for Preparing Peace Tourism in the Demilitarized Zone

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will hold a policy forum titled "Preparing for DMZ Peace Tourism in the Era of the New Normal" at 3 p.m. on the 8th at Sono Calm Hotel in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in collaboration with the Korea Tourism Organization.

Now in its fourth year, the "DMZ Peace Tourism Policy Forum" has been held since 2019 to transform the Demilitarized Zone and border areas into spaces of peace and coexistence. It brings together government and public institutions, related industries, academia, and the private sector to explore ways to revitalize peace tourism. This year's forum will focus on development plans for peace tourism in response to changes in policy environments such as phased recovery of daily life, as well as cases of tourism product development involving local residents.

First, Jeong Gwang-gyun, CEO of TPB Urban Sympathy Architecture, will present on the changes in government policies regarding the DMZ and border areas and the evolution of tourism development, emphasizing the need for sustainable tourism resources regardless of internal and external environmental changes. Next, Ha Dong-won, director of the Korea Convergence Tourism Institute, will introduce cases of spreading and applying ESG (environmental, social responsibility, and governance) in tourism under the theme "DMZ Tourism Responding to New Changes." Hogiheon, CEO of the Guide Cooperative, will share sustainable tourism content cases involving local residents of Yeoncheon and Cheorwon counties, including an audio guidebook and "Daengle Tour," a dog camping experience using local eco-friendly specialty products.

The forum will minimize on-site attendance to prevent COVID-19 and will be made available for viewing on the Korea Tourism Organization TV YouTube channel at the end of December for public access.

Additionally, prior to the forum, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will hold a "DMZ Peace Tourism Working Council" with the Korea Tourism Organization and 13 local governments bordering the DMZ (3 metropolitan and 10 basic local governments). The council will share the status of peace tourism projects by each institution, discuss the 2022 operation plan for the "DMZ Peace Trail Theme Route," and explore future collaborative projects with local governments to promote peace tourism.

A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official stated, "Through this forum, we plan to discuss new development directions to revitalize peace tourism and continuously strive to ensure that the DMZ contributes to the economic revitalization of border areas as a representative tourism content."