Yeoncheon County in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 18th that the "Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival," the only cultural tourism festival in northern Gyeonggi, won the Grand Prize in the Festival Event category at the "3rd Korea Tourism Policy Awards 2025" held at Seoul Tourism Plaza on the 16th.
Kim Deokhyun, the governor of Yeoncheon County, is receiving the Grand Prize in the Festival Event category at the "3rd Korea Tourism Policy Awards 2025" held at Seoul Tourism Plaza on the 16th. Provided by Yeoncheon County
The "Korea Tourism Policy Awards" is organized by the Tourism Policy Association of Korea (TOPA) to discover outstanding cases of regional tourism policies among local governments nationwide and to evaluate achievements that have contributed to regional development.
Shim Wonseop, a research fellow and professor at Mokpo National University who served as a judge, introduced the Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival as a representative success story. He noted that by holding a prehistoric cultural experience festival utilizing the Jeongok-ri Paleolithic site, Yeoncheon County successfully transformed its image as a border area into a cultural brand. He also highly praised Yeoncheon County for presenting a vision to develop local culture into global cultural content by planning the 2029 Yeoncheon World Paleolithic Expo together with Gyeonggi Province.
He further commented that this trend has become a significant turning point, creating new cultural tourism value by utilizing the region's historical assets and strengthening local identity.
This year, a total of seven local governments-Donghae City, Eunpyeong District, Goesan County, Yeongdeok County, Sunchang County, Jinju City, and Yeoncheon County-were selected in six categories, including festival events, tourism development, cultural resources, and ecological tourism. Yeoncheon County was honored with the Grand Prize in the Festival Event category.
Kim Deokhyun, governor of Yeoncheon County, stated, "Through hosting the 2029 Yeoncheon World Paleolithic Expo together with Gyeonggi Province, we will do our utmost to overcome the crises of population decline and regional extinction, and to share our pride as a culturally advanced nation with the public."
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