Yangsan-si Announces Final Selection of Tourism Character Through Contest

Yangsan City in Gyeongnam has finalized the selection of a tourism character utilizing the region's traditional culture through a design contest.

Final selected work for Yangsan tourism character contest.

The work ultimately chosen as Yangsan City's tourism character is ‘Yangsan Friends,’ which includes various characters based on Tongdosa Temple, one of Yangsan's representative tourist attractions, and plum blossoms. The characters include ‘Ppuyong’ and ‘Hoit,’ personifications of the dragon and tiger from Tongdosa folklore; ‘Geumi,’ a frog inspired by the Jajangam golden frog; and ‘Maerong,’ themed around plum blossoms. These characters effectively embody the cultural symbols of the region and are expected to approach tourists with a friendly and fun image.

This contest was held to discover unique and approachable characters reflecting Yangsan's tourism characteristics. A total of 253 designs utilizing the city's history, tourism, and nature were submitted. Through three rounds of evaluation by experts, the public, and selection committees, ‘Ieum and Pureum,’ ‘Hwasa and Maedongi,’ ‘Yangmi,’ and ‘Yangsan Friends’ were awarded. Among these, the city ultimately selected ‘Yangsan Friends’ as the tourism character that best represents Yangsan's tourism features.

Yangsan City plans to actively use the selected characters to produce various tourism products and content in the future, especially promoting and revitalizing diverse tourism resources while advancing the 2026 Year of Visit Yangsan campaign.

Mayor Na Dong-yeon stated, “The selection of this tourism character is part of an effort to offer visitors a new perspective on Yangsan's charm through storytelling based on the region's cultural heritage and natural scenery,” adding, “We will continue to strive to enhance the value of tourism resources through diverse content.”