[Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] On the 1st, Jeonnam Naju City announced that on the 31st of last month, Mayor Yoon Byung-tae held a casual evening conversation session called the ‘Visiting Village Roundtable’ with residents at Bokryong Village in Okjeong-ri, Donggang-myeon.
Mayor Yoon Byung-tae of Naju City is having a warm and friendly conversation with residents at Bokryong Village Hall in Donggang-myeon on the 31st of last month. [Photo by Naju City]
About 20 villagers attended the Bokryong Village roundtable, including Mayor Yoon, Donggang-myeon Chief Kim Kyung-sook, village chief Lee Seong-ryeol, senior citizens’ association president Choi Byeong-rok, women’s association president Ahn Jeong-ran, and former chairman of the Agricultural and Fisheries Chamber Ahn Young-hyun.
The village, named ‘Bokryong’ (伏龍) because its terrain resembles a dragon lying down ready to leap, is said to have been established by Ahn Hyo-gil (1560?1623), the 19th generation descendant of the Sunheung Ahn clan’s Bujehak branch (Yanggong branch), who relocated here from Namwon.
This historic village with over 400 years of history has the Yeongsuje, a shrine built by descendants in 1929 to honor the founding ancestor (Ahn Hyo-gil), and the Dangsan Festival, held annually on the 1st day of the 2nd lunar month to pray for abundance and peace.
Currently, about 50 residents in 32 households live here. The village is surrounded like a folding screen by Biryongsan Mountain at the back and is situated in a prime location with the Yeongsan River flowing nearby, attracting city dwellers looking to relocate to rural areas.
During the conversation with Mayor Yoon, residents conveyed various requests to improve safety and convenience, including expansion and paving of village entrances and farm roads, covering drainage ditches along village paths, installation of exercise equipment and replacement of flooring in the village hall, and introduction of low-floor buses and village taxis to accommodate elderly residents with mobility challenges.
They also proposed plans to revitalize the village as a tourist destination, such as strengthening promotion of the ‘Donggang Neureoji Observatory’ which offers views of the Korean Peninsula’s terrain, extending the hydrangea flower path and creating a trail around the observatory, discovering representative festivals linked to the Useupje ritual, and restoring and preserving the village well that is 400 years old.
Ahn Yeon-hyun (66, male), a resident in his fifth year of rural resettlement, requested Mayor Yoon, “Our village is a rare natural village in the province where the population is increasing due to active rural resettlement. Please designate clean and livable Bokryong Village as the first model village for farming and rural resettlement.”
Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, “Bokryong Village has great potential to become lively through rural resettlement. We will support necessary areas through farming and rural resettlement policies and model village designation.”
He added, “The most important part is for native residents to warmly welcome newcomers so that they do not face conflicts or difficulties in settling down stably.”
Furthermore, he promised, “We will actively review and reflect residents’ valuable opinions and pending projects in city administration. We will carefully manage policies to promote residents’ health and convenience so that Bokryong can leap forward vigorously as Biryong.”
Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong baekok@asiae.co.kr
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