The Largest Tourist Landmark in Gyeongbuk Region... Andong City Opens 3 Major Cultural Zone Projects!

The Only MICE Industry Hub in Northern Gyeongbuk... 'Andong International Convention Center'

Rakibium to Establish a Global Hub for Confucian Culture, 'World Confucian Culture Museum'

Andong City Opens Three Major Cultural Zone Projects, the Largest Tourism Landmarks in the Gyeongbuk Area.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] Andong City, Gyeongbuk Province, will hold the opening ceremony of the World Confucian Scholars Cultural Park and the Korean Culture Theme Park, the core projects of the 3 Major Cultural Zone Project, in the Dongbu-ri area of Dosan-myeon on August 31 at 3 p.m.

The opening ceremony will be held at the Andong International Convention Center's main auditorium with the celebration of about 1,500 citizens.

The World Confucian Scholars Cultural Park and Korean Culture Theme Park, part of the 3 Major Cultural Zone Project, have a total project cost of 393 billion KRW. After being selected as a leading project of the metropolitan economic zone in 2008, administrative procedures began in 2010, main construction started in 2014, and it was completed in June 2021. After more than 12 years of long-term development, full operation will begin in September.

The 3 Major Cultural Zone Project site, which will become the largest tourist landmark in the Gyeongbuk area, is the only complex cultural tourism site in Korea where a convention center, museum, and theme park are integrated.

Andong International Convention Center.

▲ The Andong International Convention Center covers a site area of 29,583.6㎡ and a total floor area of 28,443㎡. Its main facilities include one main auditorium and 13 medium and small conference rooms. It will play a central role in fostering the MICE industry and serve as a hub for major domestic and international events such as international conferences.

At the Andong International Convention Center, which can accommodate about 2,000 people simultaneously, events include ▲ the Humanities Value Forum on September 21, ▲ the 16th Andong International Association of Educational Cities (IAEC) World Congress in October with participation from 35 countries and 500 cities, and ▲ the 18th World Historical Cities Conference in November, expected to host 125 member cities from 65 countries.

World Confucian Culture Museum.

▲ The World Confucian Culture Museum is a museum based on the concept of a "larchiveum" to establish a global hub for Confucian culture. It is specialized to share the future value of Confucianism with people worldwide and to serve as a repository of world Confucian culture by discovering alternative agendas.

The museum plans to build a digital archive of Confucian knowledge that integrates the functions of a museum, archive, and education center, providing global visitors with access to Confucian knowledge, information, and cultural experiences.

Korean Culture Theme Park.

▲ The Korean Culture Theme Park covers a project area of 433,012㎡ (building area 13,617.09㎡, exhibition area 2,837㎡) and is themed around a 16th-century Joseon Dynasty mountain fortress village. It includes the fortress village (fortress wall path, marketplace street, bell tower plaza, military camp, and village), fortress forest trail, Yeonmu Yard, and Yeonmu Platform, offering a space where visitors can directly experience the identity of Korean history and culture.

Starting from the end of September, the Korean Culture Theme Park will offer permanent special programs such as ▲ "Hidden Card" at the Seolhwa Theater, based on Toegye Yi Hwang’s Seonghak Sipdo, depicting a spectacular mountain fortress thief capture incident; ▲ "At Andong Station," a story about a man who left the city and returns to meet his first love, performed at the traditional theater; and ▲ "Nanlibeopseok Beokkutong" (Beokkutong: a Gyeongbuk dialect term for chaos), a comedy performance set in a school. These programs are expected to create a space where tourists can always visit and enjoy.

The city plans to continue discovering and preparing various revitalization measures to lead regional development and establish the 3 Major Cultural Zone Project site as a tourism landmark.

Mayor Kwon Ki-chang said, “To ensure the successful settlement of this large-scale project, we will continuously attract prestigious international events and closely cooperate with related organizations such as entrusted operators to operate it as an attractive tourism content with substance, while promoting and attracting tourists from the metropolitan area to increase domestic recognition.”

He added, “Since this project involves the largest scale of investment and construction period in Andong’s history, we will ensure that the 3 Major Cultural Zone Project site becomes the main axis of Andong’s regional economic revitalization. By linking it with the tourism hub city project, we will transform it into a world-class tourist attraction and an international MICE industry center, accelerating the era of 10 million tourists.”