Hwaseong City Receives New Certification as 'National Geological Park' from Ministry of Environment

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Lee Su-won] Hwaseong City held a plaque dedication ceremony on the 12th in the lobby of City Hall to commemorate the new certification as a National Geological Park.

The ceremony was attended by Mayor Jung Myung-geun of Hwaseong City and Park Gyeong-hui, Chairman of the Hwaseong City Council, who unveiled the bronze plaque of 'National Geological Park' delivered from the Ministry of Environment, celebrating Hwaseong's certification as the 16th National Geological Park nationwide and the first for a single local government in Gyeonggi Province.

A National Geological Park is an alternative park system certified by the Minister of the Environment to preserve geological heritage of geoscientific importance while promoting sustainable economic development in the region through its use in education and tourism.

The eight geological sites in the Hwaseong National Geological Park are: △Gojong-ri Dinosaur Egg Fossil Deposit, △Ueum Island, △Jeongok Port Laminated Tuff, △Jebu Island, △Baekmi-ri Coastal Area, △Gungpyeong Port, △Gukhwa Island, and △Ippa Island.

The city will not stop at the National Geological Park certification and will pursue various projects to serve the original purpose of the system: promoting regional tourism and local economic revitalization through △improvements to geological site exploration convenience, △development of new educational tourism programs, and △discovery of resident cooperation projects.

In particular, the city will complete construction of a 526-meter-long marine observation walkway encompassing the Jeongok Port Laminated Tuff, a representative geological site of the Hwaseong National Geological Park, which has been in progress since last year, with the goal of completion within this year. This will address the difficulty of access due to tidal phenomena and enhance the site's utilization as a tourism and educational resource.

Through this initiative, the city plans to establish an environment where anyone can conveniently explore the Jeongok Port Laminated Tuff, a geological heritage of such significant value that it is included in textbooks, and actively promote linkages with nearby tourism resources.

Mayor Jung Myung-geun of Hwaseong City stated, "The National Geological Park certification demonstrates that Hwaseong City is truly becoming an eco-friendly and ecological cultural city," and added, "We will not rest on the National Geological Park certification but will continue to pay attention and make efforts to properly preserve and utilize the outstanding geological heritage that Hwaseong possesses as a tourism resource."