Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun, "I Will Open Suwon's Door Wide to the World"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun stated on the 24th at the Suwon Convention Center during the declaration ceremony for the '2026-2027 Year of Visiting Suwon,' "I will open Suwon's door wide to the world."

In his remarks, Mayor Lee said, "The Year of Visiting Suwon is a thrilling declaration to share Suwon's value with the world," and emphasized, "Suwon is a city with sufficient capacity to lead K-content and drive the era of 20 million Korean visitors."

He continued, "Suwon can become a 'Global Cultural and Tourism City' that the world is paying attention to," and added, "I hope all citizens will participate in this hopeful journey with the heart of being the master of the city."

The declaration ceremony began with the entrance of the Year of Visiting Suwon logo flag bearer unit. Thirty representatives, including Mayor Lee Jae-jun and heads of affiliated organizations, tourism industry, and civic groups, participated as flag bearers.

The city declared the Year of Visiting Suwon to mark the 230th anniversary of the construction of Suwon Hwaseong (2026) and the 30th anniversary of its UNESCO World Cultural Heritage designation (2027). The slogan is 'Suwon, For You.' The city has set a goal of emerging as a global tourism destination attracting 15 million visitors annually.

The five key promotion strategies for the Year of Visiting Suwon are: △Strengthening tourism content capacity △Attracting tourists through mega projects △Implementing customized events and programs △Improving tourism reception capabilities for visitor convenience △Developing diverse tourism products.

The city plans to enhance the competitiveness of tourism content through K-culture-based drama filming site experiences, activating public hanok villages, and specializing the Yeongdong Market Korean traditional clothing street. It will also maximize tourist inflows by successfully promoting recently-invited mega projects such as the 'Gyeonggi Indie Music Festival.'

Additionally, the city plans to successfully host international events such as the World Tourism Industry Conference and the China-Korea-Japan PD Forum, and promote specialized MICE business to increase Suwon's brand value. The city also plans to improve tourism facilities along major routes of Suwon Hwaseong and apply universal design to signage to create an intuitive viewing environment.

The event continued with congratulatory video messages from sister and friendly cities, empathy talks, and the opening performance for the Year of Visiting Suwon. Mayors from sister and friendly cities including Asahikawa, Japan; Townsville, Australia; Bandung, Indonesia; Yalova, Turkey; Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Freiburg, Germany; Phoenix, United States; Fukui, Japan; and Hai Phong, Vietnam, attended the ceremony and prayed for the success of the 2026-2027 Year of Visiting Suwon.

The empathy talk was conducted as a dialogue between Heo Woo-ryung, a visually impaired announcer at Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), and Mayor Lee Jae-jun. Announcer Heo Woo-ryung, who appeared on stage with her guide dog Hayan, discussed with Mayor Lee on the topic of 'Creating an open tourism city that everyone can enjoy comfortably.'

Announcer Heo said, "I recently traveled to Suwon Hwaseong and Suwon Namun Market, and I felt that the city has paid careful attention to the needs of the visually impaired throughout the tourist sites," and added, "I also felt the desire to experience all of beautiful Suwon's seasons while traveling here."

Mayor Lee stated, "I will pay more careful attention to the details so that people with visual impairments can travel comfortably in Suwon," and added, "Suwon has many beautiful places, so I hope you will visit other areas next time."

The event concluded with the opening performance for the Year of Visiting Suwon, attended by Mayor Lee Jae-jun, Park Young-tae, vice chairman of the Suwon City Council's Culture, Sports and Education Committee, Jo Won-yong, president of the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, and Fang Kun, cultural attaché at the Chinese Embassy in South Korea.