Presiding Over Weekly Meeting in Citizen Uniform and Eagles Cap
"We Should Have Increased Seating Capacity with Future Demand in Mind When Planning the New Ballpark"
Lee Jangwoo, Mayor of Daejeon, is presiding over the weekly work meeting on the 28th. / Daejeon City
With Daejeon-based professional sports teams such as the Hanwha Eagles and Hana Citizen delivering strong performances, Mayor Lee Jangwoo has called for administrative efforts that further enhance the pride of Daejeon citizens, as well as innovative plans that look to the future.
On the morning of the 28th, Mayor Lee presided over the weekly work meeting while wearing a Hana Citizen uniform and a Hanwha Eagles cap. He stated, "Both Hana Citizen and the Hanwha Eagles are achieving remarkable results," and added, "Especially with the new Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark, fan enthusiasm has exploded, making it nearly impossible to get tickets."
He went on to say, "When we were planning the new baseball stadium, I regret that we did not anticipate this level of demand and expand the seating capacity accordingly. Although the Southwest Comprehensive Sports Town is being built with 20,000 seats, we must ensure that additional seating can be added in the future without compromising the design."
He further emphasized, "If administration is driven by inertia and focused only on the present without innovation, we will eventually regret the outcome. At a time when the success of our baseball and soccer teams, along with improvements in various indicators, is boosting civic pride, the city government also needs to create administrative synergy that elevates the city brand."
In fact, Daejeon's status has been rising rapidly in recent times.
According to an analysis by Nol Universe of travel and leisure trend reservation data from Yanolja, Interpark Tour, and Triple, Daejeon ranked first nationwide in the growth rate of domestic accommodation bookings for the upcoming golden holiday period from May 1 to May 6, with a 190% increase compared to the same period last year.
Nol Universe analyzed that Daejeon is emerging as a new travel destination near the Seoul metropolitan area, driven by the opening of the new baseball stadium and the expansion of family-oriented tourism infrastructure.
Among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide, Daejeon also ranked first in marriage rates. According to population trend statistics from Statistics Korea, Daejeon's general marriage rate last year (number of marriages per 1,000 men and women) was 12.6 for men and 12.4 for women, both up by 4.3 compared to the previous year. The number of marriages in Daejeon last year was 7,986, a sharp increase of 53.2% from a year earlier. This rate of increase is 3.6 times the national average (14.8%).
The reasons for Daejeon's top marriage rate include an influx of young people following the attraction of major companies such as Merck, SK On, and LIG Nex1, as well as a one-time marriage incentive payment of up to 5 million won. Differentiated events such as the 'Daejeon 0 O'Clock Festival' and the 'Daejeon Bread Festival' also appear to have contributed to attracting a younger population.
Regarding regional issues, Mayor Lee Jangwoo mentioned a future-oriented administrative system reform modeled on the administrative integration of Daejeon and Chungnam, and instructed, "Ensure that this can be reflected as a national policy task in terms of local autonomy and balanced development."
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