Hwaseong City Enters the '500,000 Population' Major City Club

According to the city, at 12:16 p.m. on the 27th, Park Sang-gi (49) and his wife Lee Myung-hee (49) filed a registration of residence at the Bongdam-eup Administrative Office, marking the population milestone of 500,000.

Park Sang-gi, who became Hwaseong City's 500,000th citizen, currently works at the Bongdam Post Office and has been commuting from Pyeongtaek until now. This relocation brought him to Bongdam-eup.

Mayor Chae In-seok presented flowers to Park Sang-gi, honored as the city's 500,000th resident, and emphasized, "We will nurture our city to grow into an educational city where all citizens take pride, and where parents and students are happy."

The city plans to invite Park Sang-gi and his wife to the monthly plenary session on the 1st of next month to celebrate their distinction as the 500,000th Hwaseong City residents and present them with commemorative gifts.

Hwaseong City's entry into the 500,000 population era marks the 9th in Gyeonggi Province and the 14th nationally, accomplished nine years after being elevated to city status in 2001.

When Hwaseong was promoted to city status on March 21, 2001, its population was 192,000. On March 27, 2006, it surpassed the 300,000 population mark.

With Hwaseong City's entry into the major city status of 500,000 population, the city will be able to directly handle 42 administrative affairs previously handled by the province and reorganize its administrative system, thereby establishing itself as a major city.

Furthermore, when various development projects such as Dongtan 2 New City and Songsan Green City are completed, it is projected that by 2015, Hwaseong will transform into a massive basic local government unit with a population of 1 million.