Suwon and German City of Freiburg Promise Continued Exchange and Cooperation

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-joon and Freiburg Mayor Martin Werner Walter Horn agreed to pursue more active exchange in more fields.

Commemorating the 10th anniversary of their sister city relationship, Mayor Martin Horn (Martin Werner Walter Horn) visited Suwon City Hall on the 15th with the Freiburg delegation to hold talks with Mayor Lee Jae-joon and promised continued exchange and cooperation.

Mayor Martin Horn said, "I hope to expand exchange not only in environment and climate crisis response, but also in sports, culture and arts, education, and youth," and added, "If we actively exchange with each other, many good ideas to develop cities will come out."

Mayor Lee Jae-joon said, "The two cities have actively exchanged for 10 years, and from now on, let's exchange more actively and share good policies," and expressed hope that "human exchange will also take place."

The visit was accompanied by Martin Hagg, Vice Mayor of Freiburg, Freiburg City Council members, and other members of the Freiburg delegation.

Mayor Lee Jae-joon appointed Mayor Martin Horn as Honorary Mayor of Suwon on the 1st and presented the appointment certificate.

As Honorary Mayor of Suwon, Mayor Martin Horn approved the 'My Home Carbon Monitoring Initiative Plan.' The My Home Carbon Monitoring project is a citizen participation program where citizens can check energy usage and carbon emissions such as electricity, gas, water, heating, and hot water, and carbon emission rankings within apartment complexes through a smartphone app, while voluntarily practicing carbon neutrality.

Mayor Martin Horn said, "I hope the My Home Carbon Monitoring project will spread nationwide and become a global carbon neutrality standard model," and added, "I want to praise Suwon City officials who came up with such an excellent idea."

Exchange between the two cities' professional soccer teams, Suwon FC and SC Freiburg, will also be promoted. Mayor Martin Horn presented an SC Freiburg uniform to Mayor Lee Jae-joon, and Mayor Lee presented a Suwon FC uniform to Mayor Martin Horn. Suwon FC Director Choi Soon-ho and SC Freiburg Marketing and Finance Director Oliver Leki (Oliber Leki) attended.

Mayor Lee Jae-joon proposed, "I hope Suwon FC and SC Freiburg will play a friendly match," and Mayor Martin Horn responded positively, saying "That's a good idea."

On the 14th, Suwon City and Freiburg City signed an agreement at the Ilwol Sukmok Garden Visitor Center, and decided to strengthen exchange and cooperation in areas including △environment, climate change response, energy △sports △culture and arts △youth.

On the 15th, the Freiburg delegation visited Gwanggyo Lake Park to inspect the Freiburg Observatory, then visited Seho Elementary School to observe the 'Visiting Suwon Environmental Classroom.' After visiting Suwon City Hall, they toured Hwaseong Haenggung Palace.

On the 16th, the itinerary will conclude with visits to the Suwon Urban Safety Integrated Center, Samsung Innovation Museum, Suwon World Cup Stadium, Bongnyeongsa Temple, and Younghung Arboretum.

Suwon and Freiburg established a sister city relationship in November 2015 and have been maintaining steady exchange.