Shinan-gun Selected as an Excellent Case in the 2022 Balanced Development Project

Sharing Success Know-How and Innovation Cases of 'Purple Island' Transformed into a Purple Paradise

[Sinan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Jae-kyung] On the 6th, Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do, was selected as an excellent case local government at the ‘2022 Balanced Development Project Excellence Case Awards Ceremony’ hosted by the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development and received the Chairman’s Award of the Balanced Development Committee.

Sinan-gun’s excellent case was a national balanced development project promoted in the Purple Island area of Anjwa-myeon, which has recently emerged as a global tourist destination. From 2018 to 2021, a total of 27 billion KRW was invested over five years to carry out projects such as village road maintenance, circular road construction, parking lot maintenance, Moon Bridge installation, forest trails and park creation, and photo zone installation.

Based on these achievements, Sinan-gun was the only region in Jeollanam-do to be selected as an excellent case and received the Chairman’s Award of the Balanced Development Committee. In addition, Choi Mi-soon, chairman of the Anjwa-myeon Village Leaders Association, who contributed to the project promotion, received a commendation as a meritorious person in the private sector.

Also, among about 250 award-winning heads and related officials gathered, Sinan was the only one in Honam to present the excellent case performance titled ‘Purple Island! See the transformed 모습 of the Nakdo (樂島)!’, sharing success know-how and innovative cases.

The number of tourists visiting Purple Island has reached 940,000 since 2018, with an average of over 2,000 visitors on weekends, generating 1.8 billion KRW in admission fees and creating 54 local jobs, contributing to the regional economy.

A Sinan-gun official stated, “We will continue to build various infrastructure to increase local cultural and welfare services and through other linked projects, strive to create the 1004 Islands blooming with flowers all year round so that the second and third Purple Islands can be born.”

Meanwhile, Sinan-gun’s Purple Island began to be known worldwide through color marketing using colors since 2018, establishing a unique differentiated tourism strategy. In 2021, it was selected as the ‘Best Tourism Village’ by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), received the ‘Best Travel Destination’ award from SRT Magazine, and the main prize of Korea Tourism Star. Subsequently, it was selected as a ‘Recommended Place to Visit in November 2022’ by the Korea Tourism Organization and won the ‘Presidential Award (Grand Prize)’ in the cultural tourism category at the Korea Local Autonomy Management Competition, rapidly emerging as a global tourist destination beyond Korea.