Osan Mayor Lee Kwon-jae Donates to Sister City Jindo County in Jeollanam-do Through Hometown Love Fund

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Choi Ki-ho] Osan Mayor Lee Kwon-jae visited Jindo County in Jeollanam-do, a sister city, on the 12th and presented a donation to Jindo County Governor Kim Hee-soo, participating in the Hometown Love Fund initiative.

He also presented a donation to Mokpo City, where his alma mater is located, demonstrating his commitment to promoting and activating the Hometown Love Fund, which has been implemented on a large scale since this year.

This donation was realized at the proposal of Osan City to promise eternal friendship and mutual cooperation for shared development between Osan City and Jindo County in line with the implementation of the Hometown Love Fund.

Osan City and Jindo County established a sister city relationship on September 16, 2022, and have been continuously promoting exchanges. Going forward, they plan to pursue exchange projects for mutual cooperation and development in various fields including administration, culture, tourism, and economy, based on the common interests of both cities.

The 'Hometown Love Fund' is a system in which non-residents of a local government autonomously donate to other local governments. When donating to a local government other than one's registered address, donors receive full tax deductions for donations up to 100,000 won and 16.5% of the amount exceeding 100,000 won. Recipients can receive thank-you gifts such as regional specialty products within 30% of the donated amount.

Meanwhile, Jindo County has selected 28 types of thank-you gifts including rice harvested in clean areas, turmeric, goji berries, seaweed, abalone, and blue crabs, as well as agricultural and fishery products, local gift certificates, and tourism product vouchers.

Osan Mayor Lee Kwon-jae said, "I hope that close cooperation and donation participation between sister cities will serve as a catalyst for activating the Hometown Love Fund, a countermeasure to prevent regional decline. I am pleased to be able to donate to Jindo County, with which we newly established a sister city relationship last September. I hope the successful settlement of the Hometown Love Fund will lead to narrowing the fiscal gap between local governments and revitalizing the local economy."

Yun Jin-guk, chairman of the Osan City Exchange Association, who also presented a donation, said, "I am honored to visit Jindo County, with which Osan City has formed a meaningful connection, and to contribute to regional development through this donation. I hope for eternal friendship and development between the two cities going forward."