Nam Kyung-pil Pushes to Host '2019 World Youth Day'

Nam Kyung-pil, Saenuri Party candidate for Gyeonggi Province Governor, revealed his plan to attract the '2019 World Youth Day,' Catholicism's highest festival, to Korea on the 5th.

According to Candidate Nam, a 'World Youth Day Invitation Preparation Committee' will be organized with participation from religious and cultural sectors including the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul and the Uijeongbu Diocese, as well as local governments (Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and 31 cities and counties within the province).

Gyeonggi Province will provide administrative and financial support to enable participants to stay in the province.

In particular, if the government develops the 'DMZ World Peace Park' before 2019, the plan is to hold the opening ceremony of the World Youth Day jointly by North and South Korea within the DMZ.

The province will develop a 'Unification Hope Camping Program' that tours inter-Korean border areas including Gimpo, Paju, and Yeoncheon, and will also promote various cultural events such as the Goyang Korean Wave World K-pop Festival and international film festivals.

The World Youth Day is Catholicism's highest festival held every three years since 1896, and the Pope also attends the event.

At the 1995 World Youth Day in Manila, Philippines, 5 million people participated, setting a world Guinness record.

The host city for the '2019 World Youth Day' will be announced at the closing Mass of the World Youth Day held in Krakow, Poland in 2016.

Legislator Nam said, "If millions of youths visit Gyeonggi Province, it will greatly help not only in creating an atmosphere for Korean unification but also in revitalizing the local economy."