Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin Presents "Humanistic City Yongin" Policy at World Humanities Cities Network General Assembly

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Choi Ki-ho] Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin Special Status City attended the policy session of the "First World Humanities Cities Network (WHCN) General Assembly" held at Andong International Convention Center on the 7th afternoon and introduced Yongin City and its policies focused on humanistic values under the theme of "Yongin Renaissance, Opening the Path to Future Humanistic Cities."

The general assembly was jointly hosted by Andong City, Gyeongbuk Province and the Korea Foundation for Spiritual Culture, and delegations from 38 cities and organizations in 19 countries attended under the theme "Balance and Harmony, Conditions for Happy Life" to discuss inter-city humanities policy exchange and cooperation measures.

Yongin City attended the general assembly at the invitation of Andong City, with which it established a sister city relationship on July 23rd. Mayor Lee appeared as a speaker in Policy Session 2, "Inclusive City Policies for Coexistence and Diversity," which was held on the second day of the general assembly.

Mayor Lee introduced himself in English and said through his presentation, "Since taking office in July 2022, I have set the administrative vision as 'Future Created Together, Yongin Renaissance.' As you can feel from the phrase 'Yongin Renaissance,' I am making efforts to raise humanistic values throughout city administration, and I believe that doing so enriches citizens' lives in multiple dimensions."

Mayor Lee said, "Personally, I have a deep interest in humanities and continue to study, giving lectures on humanistic themes at elementary, middle, and high schools, universities, companies, organizations, and senior universities. I have explained Shakespeare's plays, which depict various aspects of humanity while showing paintings, shared stories of paintings and painters and music, and personally organized two concerts where vocalists performed related songs, engaging in various forms of humanistic communication."

Mayor Lee said, "In Yongin City, a project to create the world's largest semiconductor cluster is underway through large-scale investments by global semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Yongin City is making efforts to enrich citizens' lives economically, spiritually, and culturally by preserving humanistic values while advancing cutting-edge technology."

Mayor Lee said, "The reading rate of Yongin citizens is 54%, higher than the national average of 43%, ranking among the highest in the nation. To meet citizens' intellectual needs, we currently operate 22 public libraries, are building additional libraries, and installing 'smart libraries' in areas where it is difficult to construct physical facilities to respond to citizens' enthusiasm for reading." He also said, "We select citizens with professional knowledge in various fields as 'human books' so they can impart their knowledge to other citizens. I, who majored in economics, am designated as a human book in the field of painting."

Mayor Lee said, "We provide diverse lifelong education and humanities lectures for seniors, and several senior universities are in operation. We are continuously expanding facilities such as youth cultural centers and women's halls that can convey humanistic values to youth and women."

Mayor Lee said, "In Yongin, there are 191 elementary, middle, and high schools, including special schools. Every year, we hold meetings with school principals and parents and visit schools to work on educational development in school settings, improving learning conditions, and improving school commute environments. This is an investment in children and youth who will be responsible for the city's future," he emphasized.

Mayor Lee said, "Through these efforts, Yongin City is developing into a city where seniors, women, and children are all happy. We have received certification as an age-friendly city from the World Health Organization (WHO), certification as a child-friendly city from UNICEF, and certification as a women-friendly city from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. At the end of 2022, Yongin was designated as an environmental education city, along with three other local governments, the earliest among all municipal governments in the nation," he introduced.