Anseong-si, Final Selection as 'Korea Cultural City'

Investing 20 Billion Won Over 3 Years to Promote 13 Artisan and Craft Projects
Mayor Kim Bora "Proving Anseong's Unique Cultural City Competitiveness"

Anseong City in Gyeonggi Province has elevated its status as a "cultural city" by being finally selected as a "Korea Cultural City" following its designation as the "2025 East Asia Cultural City."

On the 26th, Anseong City announced that it was finally selected as a "Korea Cultural City" by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism based on the results of this year's preliminary project. It is the first city in the metropolitan area to receive this designation.

Kim Bora, Mayor of Anseong City, is celebrating the final selection of 'Korea Cultural City' with employees and pledging to successfully carry out the project. Photo by Anseong City

The Korea Cultural City initiative is promoted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as part of the "Regional-Centered Cultural Balanced Development Leading Project." Anseong was finally selected after undergoing a year-long preliminary project, consulting, and evaluation process.

Accordingly, the city will invest a total of 20 billion KRW, including 10 billion KRW from the national government and 10 billion KRW from local government funds, to carry out the main project over three years.

Previously, the city set the project vision as "Anseongmat-chum Artisan and Craft Culture Distribution City, Cultural City Anseong," reflecting the identity of "crafts and artisans" represented by Anseongmat-chum brassware, Anseong's geographical location, and the status and significance of the "Anseong Market" which flourished during the Joseon Dynasty. Based on this, the city established 13 projects across four fields to build a systematic production-distribution-consumption circulation system for the artisan and craft culture industry through the "Anseong Cultural Market" platform.

The city plans to grow into a distribution hub city for "Anseongmat-chum Artisan Culture," where high-quality and popular cultural arts coexist, by building a sustainable local cultural ecosystem through projects for ▲ nurturing cultural agents ▲ strengthening cultural competitiveness ▲ establishing cultural enjoyment (base) ▲ expanding cultural exchange (distribution).

Kim Bora, Mayor of Anseong City, said, "Being selected as a Korea Cultural City is the result of four years of dedicated effort," and added, "We will do our best to become a cultural city where people 'enjoy culture and prosper through culture' based on Anseong's unique competitiveness."