[Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Naju City in Jeollanam-do held the Geumseongsan Sunrise Event at Nojeokbong Peak of Geumseongsan Mountain starting from 7:10 a.m. on the 1st.
According to the city on the 2nd, this sunrise event, held for the first time in three years due to COVID-19, was organized by the Naju Junior Chamber International (JCI) and the Naju Saemaeul Women's Association, which prepared New Year's rice cake soup sharing.
To see the first sunrise of the new year from the summit of Geumseongsan, Mayor Yoon Byung-tae, National Assembly member Shin Jeong-hoon, City Council Chairman Lee Sang-man, local city and provincial council members, heads of various institutions and social organizations, and about 1,000 citizens climbed the mountain trail from 6 a.m.
The event began at 7:10 a.m. at dawn with an exciting traditional drum dance performance. Around 7:50 a.m., as the first sun of the Year of the Rabbit pierced through the thick fog, citizens cheered in unison and shouted "Happy Naju" and "Excellent Naju" together.
Citizens captured the red rising first sun of the new year on their phones, hung wish papers on sotdae poles, and exchanged good wishes with each other.
After the event, Saemaeul Women's Association members shared rice cake soup, carefully prepared since the day before, with the sunrise attendees at Naktabong Peak of Geumseongsan Mountain, wishing for their health.
Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, "Under the spirit of Geumseongsan, which was honored with an official title during the Goryeo Dynasty and is considered one of the eight famous mountains of Joseon, we looked at the first sunrise of the new year and pledged a new future for Naju while praying for the health and peace of 120,000 citizens."
He added, "Along with the opening of the Geumseongsan summit, I will do my best this year to develop the Yeongsan River, which nurtured Naju, into an ecological tourism resource that opens a new era of the Yeongsan River through a region-customized integrated river project."
Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong baekok@asiae.co.kr
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