Gochang-gun, Jeonbuk National University, and Hanok Companies Join Hands for Win-Win Development of Hanok Industry

[Gochang=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Jae-gil] Jeonbuk Gochang-gun, Jeonbuk National University, and a hanok specialized company have signed a 'Hanok Industry Win-Win Development Business Agreement.'

According to Gochang-gun on the 21st, the business agreement ceremony was attended by the Gochang-gun governor, Choi In-gyu, chairman of the Gochang-gun council, Professor Nam Hae-kyung of Jeonbuk National University Hanok Human Resources Development Project Group, Kim Dong-in, CEO of Hanokyeon, Lee Gye-sun, CEO of Baum Construction, and Jo Soong-hwan, CEO of ZIN.

With this agreement, a one-stop support system for the hanok industry involving industry, academia, and government has been completed.

Jeonbuk National University will operate education, practice, and experience centers for human resource development; hanok companies will handle production and exhibition sales; and Gochang-gun will be responsible for attracting companies and administrative support.

In particular, Gochang-gun and hanok-related companies are aiming to establish the nation's first hanok industry cluster.

Hanok architecture is a representative labor-intensive business, and it is expected to have a significant ripple effect by increasing related jobs including skilled technicians and fostering production companies of hanok materials such as wood and loess bricks.

Jeonbuk National University is also promoting the formalization of the Hanok Department and the Hanok Eco Museum at the Gochang campus.

By expanding overseas exports, Gochang will become a forward base to promote hanok worldwide.

In fact, related companies have succeeded in exporting hanok to Algeria and Vietnam in collaboration with Jeonbuk National University, and consultations are ongoing for more than 20 complexes in about 10 countries.

The county plans to create a hanok folk village with stories linked to the fortress town.

The hanok hotel where Hallyu stars Bi and Gong Yoo stayed is so popular that reservations are sold out for half a year, and the Pansori Experience Center, which reproduces Dongrijungsa nearby, is scheduled to open in September.

Folk play experience centers and hanok guesthouses will also be sequentially established.

A county official said, "Through hanok, we will rationally inherit and develop our traditional culture, enhancing the dignity of Gochang, while greatly contributing to job creation and revitalization of the local economy as a new growth engine of the construction industry."

Meanwhile, Jeonbuk National University and Hanokyeon plan to hold a completion ceremony for the exported hanok building in Vietnam on the 26th.

Gochang=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Jae-gil gjg7070@asiae.co.kr