Final Budget of 780 Billion Won... Opening the Era of 800 Billion Won Next Year
Community Center, Marine Leisure Hub, City Gas Supply and Other Ongoing Projects Progressing Smoothly
[Boseong=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Cheon-seok] Boseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 28th that as 2022 marked a significant step toward daily recovery, remarkable recovery and growth were shown in the economic, social, and administrative sectors.
The online direct transaction market Boseong Mall recorded an all-time high sales of 4.244 billion KRW, far surpassing the target amount of 2 billion KRW, expanding the sales channels for local agricultural and marine products.
The Yulpo Seawater Green Tea Center was visited by 120,000 people, more than double the number of visitors compared to the same period last year, and Botjae Greendahyang and Green Market posted their highest sales since opening. Boseong Small Theater also saw more than twice the number of viewers compared to the previous year.
The Boseong Love Gift Certificate, which supports local small business owners and helps reduce household expenses for residents, recorded sales of 49.3 billion KRW by the end of November, with cumulative sales reaching 125.6 billion KRW since the spread of COVID-19 began in 2019.
This year, Boseong-gun’s final budget is 780 billion KRW, and next year Boseong-gun is on the verge of entering the 800 billion KRW budget era.
▲ Balanced Growth... Excellent Evaluations in Administrative Fields
Boseong-gun received the highest grade for two consecutive years in the local government innovation evaluation hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and ranked first grade overall in the 2022 local government evaluation.
In the welfare sector, it earned six crowns of honor including Our Neighborhood Welfare Mobile Team Award, Best Institution for Core Happiness e-um Personnel Activities, Excellent Institution for Visiting Health and Welfare Services, Excellent Institution for Post-Management of Social Security Benefits, Excellent Institution for Basic Pension Project, and Excellent Institution for Welfare Blind Spot Discovery Case Contest.
In a time when safety is emphasized more than ever, it was the only institution in the province to be selected as an excellent institution in disaster management evaluation for four consecutive years, and received the Excellence Award for the 2022 Eulji Exercise, demonstrating its capability and recognition in protecting residents safely from disasters.
Jeollanam-do’s evaluations in job creation, return-to-farming and fishing village settlement, anti-corruption policy, comprehensive livestock policy, and agricultural food distribution county work all showed consistently good results, showcasing Boseong-gun’s administrative capabilities.
▲ Steady Progress on Current Projects
The representative project, Boseong-eup Complex Community Center, broke ground in March this year and construction is progressing smoothly with the goal of completion in the first half of 2024. Beolgyo-eup Cultural Complex Center is currently in the design phase and is scheduled to start construction in the first half of next year.
The Boseong-eup city gas supply project is currently conducting detailed design work for supply pipelines through Korea Gas Corporation, with retail pipeline route work planned to start next year, aiming for supply in 2025.
The Yulpo Marine Leisure Tourism Hub project is being promoted with a goal of completion in 2024, and among the Saemangeum 300 projects, Sangjin Port and Dongyul Port were completed this year, with four other ports progressing normally according to schedule.
The Yeojaman National Tidal Flat Marine Garden project, jointly promoted with Jeollanam-do and Suncheon City, has completed the final report meeting for the basic plan establishment and is working together to reflect it in government projects.
Additionally, Boseong secured 16.8 billion KRW, the second largest amount in Jeollanam-do, from the Local Extinction Response Fund to implement various policies for population attraction. Efforts are also being made to support on-site education, such as operating 100 KRW buses for elementary, middle, and high school students and increasing the elementary school entrance congratulatory savings incentive from 20,000 KRW to 200,000 KRW.
▲ Restarting Festivals and Events
The 10th Boseong World Tea Expo was held this year, widely promoting Boseong’s tea industry and tea culture, hosting a grand festival with 110,000 visitors through both online and offline events. Export agreements worth 3.1 million USD were also concluded.
The “World Wetlands Day” event, which raises awareness of the value of the Boseong Beolgyo Tidal Flat, registered as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, and shares the importance of wetlands with the entire nation, was successfully completed.
Leveraging the UNESCO World Natural Heritage registration of Boseong Beolgyo Tidal Flat, the county plans to develop Hoecheon and Beolgyo into marine leisure and marine ecological hubs, making them representative marine tourist destinations in Korea.
The Boseong Kiwi Festival has also established itself. The 2nd Boseong Kiwi Festival attracted about 40,000 visitors both online and offline, providing an opportunity to properly promote Boseong kiwi to more people.
▲ Strong Support for Boseong-gun’s Three Major Specialty Products
Boseong Kiwi, a new rookie among Boseong-gun’s specialty products, earned the national representative label by being registered as Agricultural Product Geographical Indication No. 111 after persistent efforts.
Following Agricultural Product Geographical Indication No. 1 Boseong Green Tea and Marine Product Geographical Indication No. 1 Beolgyo Cockle, Boseong Kiwi was assigned registration number 111, becoming the first kiwi in the nation to acquire a geographical indication.
Through collaboration with the global company McDonald’s, the “Boseong Nokdon Burger” was launched, and Boseong farmers appeared as models in McDonald’s commercials, promoting Boseong green tea nationwide.
To ensure sustainable production of Beolgyo cockles, a resource restoration project for true cockles is underway, and the Yeojaman Sea Ranch project has been ongoing for five years.
Thanks to efforts to reinforce fishery resources, the annual auction volume is increasing and a stable fishing environment is being established.
The Yeojaman area was selected for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries’ “Clean Fishing Ground Regeneration Project,” securing 5 billion KRW in project funds.
With the Yeojaman National Tidal Flat Marine Garden project, the largest single project in Boseong-gun’s history with a budget of 218.5 billion KRW, being actively promoted, the Beolgyo tidal flat is expected to be preserved and utilized as a healthier ecological environment, which will naturally greatly help increase cockle production.
Governor Kim Cheol-woo said, “We can now dream bigger together with the people of Boseong-gun,” adding, “With the KTX-Ieum running, city gas being supplied, and the completion of the Complex Community Center and Marine Leisure Hub Center, the future of Boseong is promising, and I will do my best to lead Boseong’s development.”
Boseong=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Cheon-seok hss79@asiae.co.kr
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