Lee Chung-woo: "Suspension Bridge to Open in May... Will Make It a Landmark"
Aiming to Become Korea's Top Tourist City Where History, Culture, and Nature Coexist
Transforming into a Stay-Type City with Eco-Friendly Theme Park on Gangcheon Island
Yeoju City in Gyeonggi Province has declared this year as the "First Year of Yeoju Tourism" to leap forward as South Korea's top tourist city where history, culture, and nature coexist.
Lee Chung-woo, Mayor of Yeoju City, is speaking at the 2025 New Year Policy Briefing held in the city hall's main conference room on the 11th. Photo by Lee Jong-gu
On the 11th, Lee Chung-woo, Mayor of Yeoju, announced at the New Year policy briefing held in the large conference room on the 4th floor of City Hall, “We will discover tourism content for all four seasons and implement customized promotional strategies by generation and region to usher in an era of 6 million annual visitors.”
The mayor explained that 2025 will be declared the Year of Visiting Yeoju, and with the Yeoju Ceramic Festival and the opening of the suspension bridge in May, Yeoju will be transformed into a new tourism landmark.
As measures to attract 6 million tourists, the plan includes △attracting private investment for condominiums on the southern end of Geumeunmorae Park △completing a traveler center in the Silleuksa Temple tourism complex △creating an eco-friendly theme park around Gangcheon Island, aiming to reconstruct Yeoju as a 'stay-type tourist city.'
The mayor said, "The opening of the suspension bridge, the opening of the traveler center, and the creation of Hyunam-dong Yeoju Citizen Park this year are expected to greatly help attract tourists," adding, "We will make multifaceted efforts to improve tourism infrastructure to revitalize Yeoju tourism."
Earlier, Yeoju City designated 2025 as the "First Year of Yeoju Tourism" and formed the Yeoju Tourism Activation Promotion Team to successfully carry out this initiative. The team, led by the Director of the Culture and Welfare Bureau, consists of 20 departments and the Yeoju Sejong Culture and Tourism Foundation, established to promote the "2025 First Year of Yeoju Tourism" policy.
Mayor Lee Chung-woo stated, "This year, we will gradually implement projects that offer tourists unique experiences exclusive to Yeoju and positively impact the local economy, thereby firmly establishing our position as a tourist city."
Yeoju City plans to attract more tourists by promoting a tourism vision as South Korea's best tourist city where history, culture, and tourism coexist.
The city is implementing 75 projects, including temporarily waiving entrance fees for tourist facilities and providing discount coupons to the tourism industry, as well as developing a unified symbolic image. For the first time nationwide, a citizen academy will be recruited and operated to train bicycle tourism guides.
To preserve and systematically utilize Gangcheon Island, known for its outstanding natural scenery, a parking environment improvement project will be carried out with a total budget of 18.1 billion KRW, including 12.6 billion KRW from provincial funds and 5.5 billion KRW from city funds.
This year, Yeoju City will actively promote 18 key projects, including △Gangcheon Island and Damnang-ri festivals with local residents △integrated marketing for Yeoju Daewangnim-pyo △nationwide state-of-the-art livestock manure treatment facilities △urban regeneration New Deal projects △industrial complex development △construction of Yeoju City Hall △creation of Hyunam Riverside Citizen Park △revitalization of the old downtown area.
Mayor Lee Chung-woo said, "Currently, the pledge fulfillment rate stands at 74%. We will strive to achieve all remaining projects within this year," and added, "In the new year, we will once again show the world the united strength of Yeoju citizens who can overcome any hardship."
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