Yongin Citizens to Use Sokcho Beach Public Parking Lots Free of Charge During Summer

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Yongin citizens can now use public parking lots at Sokcho Beach free of charge during the summer season.

Yongin Special City and Sokcho City, Gangwon Province announced on the 28th that they established a sister city relationship on the 27th and agreed to the aforementioned terms.

Yongin Special City established a sister city relationship with Sokcho City and agreed to jointly cooperate for mutual development in various sectors including tourism, administration, economy, and culture.

The agreement ceremony held in the Vision Hall of Yongin Special City was attended by Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin Special City, Chairman Nam Hong-suk of the Yongin Special City Council Operations Committee, Mayor Lee Byeong-seon of Sokcho City, Chairman Kim Myeong-gil of the Sokcho City Council, and officials from both cities.

Mayor Lee Sang-il stated, "I am pleased to establish a sister city relationship for the mutual development of Yongin Special City and Sokcho City," and added, "Let us closely cooperate to revitalize exchanges between the two cities and promote citizen exchanges for mutual development."

The mayor continued, "I welcome the delegation led by Mayor Lee Byeong-seon and Council Chairman Kim Myeong-gil who have visited Yongin on the occasion of Sokcho City's 60th anniversary of city status this year. I hope that through direct trade of agricultural and marine products, revitalization of tourism exchanges, and sharing of good policies, the two cities can foster development and enhance the happiness of citizens in both cities."

Mayor Lee Byeong-seon of Sokcho City said, "I am pleased that we have established a sister city relationship with Yongin Special City, which is receiving the most attention nationwide," and added, "As the central axis of South Korea's economy and a representative city creating future growth engines, I will do my best to ensure that both Yongin Special City and Sokcho City achieve a win-win outcome through goodwill and cooperation."

According to the agreement, both cities will maintain close cooperation to improve residents' welfare and actively cooperate in sharing excellent municipal policies and best practices in community autonomy.

Yongin citizens will be exempted from parking fees at Sokcho Beach public parking lots (July-August) and receive a 50% discount on admission to the Sokcho Municipal Museum, while Sokcho citizens will be exempted from admission fees to Yongin Natural Recreation Forest and the Rural Theme Park.

Both cities will also actively promote major festivals and events representing each city and actively facilitate cultural and arts exchanges among organizations such as the Yongin Special City Youth Orchestra and Sokcho Municipal Choir to expand performance opportunities for artists.

To revitalize the local economy, Yongin City will sell Sokcho specialties at its weekend direct trade market held every Saturday at Giheung Station. Sokcho City will receive support from Yongin citizen translation volunteer teams for export companies.

The delegations from both cities visited Everland, a representative tourist destination in Yongin, following the agreement ceremony to tour popular facilities and shared a welcome banquet to strengthen their friendly relations.

This sister city agreement marks the city's ninth such relationship, following that with Hampyeong County, Jeollanam-do in May. The city plans to establish sister city relationships with other excellent cities nationwide such as Danyang County, Chungcheongbuk-do and Gwangyang City, Jeollanam-do to promote balanced regional development.