77% of Cheonan Residents Say Cheonan City Symbol Should Be Changed

Produced in 1999, Fails to Capture the City's Identity and Symbolism

The symbol mark of Cheonan City, created in 1999, has been criticized for being unsuitable in expressing Cheonan's identity, symbolism, and aspirations, as well as lacking distinctiveness from other local governments.

It was found that 77% of Cheonan citizens in Chungnam believe that the city's symbol mark should be changed.

The “Cheonan City Urban Brand and Symbol Mark Research Group” of the Cheonan City Council held an interim policy research report and expert discussion on the 9th, and announced the results of a public opinion survey regarding the change of the symbol mark.

According to the “Citizen Awareness Survey” conducted with about 500 Cheonan citizens throughout May, 76.9% responded that they agree with changing the current symbol mark. In response to the question “Does it well represent the city's identity?”, 41.9% answered negatively.

The current symbol mark of Cheonan was created in 1999, and there have been criticisms that it is not suitable for expressing Cheonan's identity, symbolism, and direction, as well as lacking differentiation from other local governments.

It is also known that 8 out of the 15 cities and counties in Chungnam have changed their symbol marks within the past five years for similar reasons.

The Cheonan City Council's "Cheonan City Urban Brand and Symbol Mark Research Group" held a mid-term report and expert discussion session on policy research activities on the 9th.

Kim Hansol, a professor at Sangmyung University who participated as a presenter at the expert discussion, emphasized aesthetics and brand experience as key factors for brand success. Han Jongho, a professor at Hoseo University, and Kim Jaekang, a professor at Dankook University, who participated in the discussion, suggested that the new direction should reflect a future vision.

Lee Jiwon, the representative member of the research group, proposed to the administration the following: establishing an integrated management department for BI and CI to ensure sustainable and unified urban brand operation; collecting citizen opinions through public hearings; and actively utilizing expert groups.

Lee Jiwon stated, “This survey is just the first step in understanding citizens' perceptions of the symbol mark, with about 500 citizens participating, but there should be follow-up public hearings and large-scale opinion surveys in the future.”

She added, “When the group was first launched, there were negative opinions due to the large budget required for changing the symbol mark, but it is difficult to agree that the current symbol mark represents Cheonan. In fact, some local governments that recently changed their symbol marks were able to do so with a small budget of around 300 million won, so the will of the local government head seems to be the key factor.”

Meanwhile, the research group plans to include the final research results in a report in August.