Yongin City - US Williamson County Sister City Partnership

Establishment of "Yongin City Day" and Installation of "Yongin City Blvd" Sign
Mayor Lee: "Mutual Growth through Cooperation in Industry, Education, and Culture"

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province has signed a sister city agreement with Williamson County, Texas, USA, where Samsung Electronics is building a foundry plant.

Lee Sang-il (third from the left), mayor of Yongin, is giving a greeting at the sister city agreement ceremony with Williamson County, Texas, held locally in the United States on the 9th (local time). Photo by Yongin City

Yongin City announced on the 12th that Mayor Lee Sang-il, who was visiting the United States, held a sister city signing ceremony between the two cities with Bill Gravell, representative of Williamson County, at the Williamson County Expo Center on the 9th (local time).

Williamson County oversees 27 cities, including Taylor City, where Samsung Electronics is constructing the foundry plant. The population is rapidly growing by about 4,000 people each month, and as of last year, the population was approximately 700,000.

This sister city signing ceremony was held as a local visit by Yongin City following Gravell's visit to Yongin during the Yongin City Day event last September, when the sister city agreement was initially made.

Through the sister city relationship, both sides agreed to establish a new advanced industrial base centered on semiconductors and actively cooperate in cultural and educational fields. In particular, the county declared the day of the visit by Mayor Lee and the Yongin delegation as "Yongin City Day." Additionally, an honorary road sign named "Yongin City Blvd" was installed on the road to the foundry facility that Samsung Electronics is constructing in Taylor City.

The event was attended by local business officials including Dwayne Airola, Mayor of Taylor, and Minh Tran, president of the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce.

Mayor Lee said, "The two cities, which have shown innovative development based on semiconductors and advanced industries, will seek cooperation plans for industry, culture, and exchanges among professors and students at local universities," adding, "We will strive to ensure that the relationship between the two cities, which have started mutual cooperation, matures further in various fields."

Representative Gravell also emphasized, "Yongin, which has built the world's best semiconductor industry base, is a city with a very high level of culture and education and is an attractive city that wants to exchange in various fields for development," adding, "The scope of exchanges with Yongin will expand to include economy, industry, culture, and human exchanges."

Lee Sang-il (center), Mayor of Yongin, is taking a commemorative photo with Bill Gravel, Williamson County representative, and others in front of the honorary road sign "Yongin-si Daero" installed at the Samsung Electronics foundry construction site in Taylor, Texas. Photo by Yongin City

Before the sister city signing, Mayor Lee met with Representative Gravell and officials from Texas State University at the Williamson County Courthouse that morning to discuss exchange plans between universities in the two cities. Founded in 1899, Texas State University is the fifth largest university in Texas. The university expressed its desire to establish student and faculty exchange programs with universities in Yongin and requested support from the mayor.