Osan City Holds Launch Ceremony for Cultural City Administrative Council

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] On the 3rd, Osan City established an administrative council among cooperating departments and held a launch ceremony for the final selection as a Cultural City and the promotion of sustainable cultural city projects.

The launch ceremony was attended by Jo Yo-han, Representative Director of the Osan Cultural Foundation, and Cho Ki-bong, Standing Director of the Osan Education Foundation, who are directly implementing the Cultural City project.

The city was selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in December last year as a candidate for the second Cultural City initiative with the promotion strategy "Osan, a Cultural City Thriving Through Connection."

Prior to the launch ceremony, Choi Chang-hee, Secretary-General of the Cultural City at the Cultural Foundation, reported on the policy direction of the Cultural City project, the status of preliminary project implementation to date, and plans for creating a specialized cultural city in Osan over the next five years.

Last year, the city carried out a total of five preliminary projects, including a pilot project to overcome COVID-19, centered on the Eum Culture Citizen Council, which has maintained continuous participation and interest in cultural city projects through citizen round tables as well as conferences and forums, and the citizen community that formed the foundation of the educational city.

Mayor Kwak Sang-wook said, "While other local governments have cultural resources that can represent their regions, Osan City is actually lacking in tangible cultural resources. However, the achievements of the educational city over the past decade were accomplished based on people and human resources rather than physical resources, and I believe that if we create a cultural city that embodies the value of such a process, we can certainly expect good results," expressing strong determination regarding the designation as a Cultural City.

Ahead of the Cultural City on-site evaluation on the 16th, the city plans to present a blueprint for cultural regeneration in the natural and residential environment, including "Clean Osan Stream Where Otters Live" and "Gwol-dong Harmony Village," which was selected for the second Urban Regeneration Project by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.