□ Korea’s Cities of Culture are leading regional development with the three cultural drivers of building local cultural infrastructure, identifying and promoting local contents, and fostering creative HR in the cultural sector.

□ Since the City of Culture Project was launched, 103 local governments have developed plans to build their Cities of Culture, and 88 have enacted ordinances on the City of Culture, building the foundation for implementing cultural policies led by local governments.

□ In 2022, 2.5 million local residents engaged in cultural experiences in 18 Cities of Culture, and over 4,300 local cultural spaces were developed and utilized.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) announced on February 23 (Thur) that Seogwipo-si (Mayor LEE Jong Woo) was selected as the City of Culture of the Year and reported the 2022 achievements of the Cities of Culture at Seogwipo KAL Hotel. Together with the City of Culture Deliberation Committee (Chaired by JEONG Gap Young), MCST reviewed the performance of 18 Cities of Culture that operated the City of Culture Development Project in 2022 and selected the five best cities that have led balanced development through culture: Seogwipo city, Cheongju city, Chuncheon city, Wanju county, and Miryang county. Seogwipo city was selected as the first City of Culture of the Year to represent these Best Cities of Culture.

The Cities of Culture, operated as part of the YOON Suk Yeol government’s initiative “Local Community-Centered Balanced Cultural Development,” refers to the cities designated by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to reinforce the power of creating culture by efficiently utilizing cultural resources with regional characteristics in accordance with the Regional Culture Promotion Act. The Ministry has designated a total of 24 Cities of Culture from 2019 to 2022, including seven, five, six, and six cities in the first, second, third, and fourth announcements, respectively.

* Status of Cities of Culture Designated through Four Announcements (Total 24 Cities of Culture)

In 2022, MCST provided the first 18 Cities of Culture (designated through the first, second, and third announcements) with comprehensive and systematic support to facilitate local development based on culture. National expenses of KRW 1.5 billion were used (1) to improve the local cultural infrastructure, (2) to identify and support cultural contents with regional characteristics, and (3) to foster creative HR in the culture sector.

Minister PARK Bo Gyoon said, “MCST has visited the Cities of Culture the past two months and reviewed their progress over the three years since the project was launched. The key to a City of Culture’s success is making the city competitive and differentiated by discovering and creating cultural contents unique to the region. These efforts will instill local residents with pride and satisfaction as cultural infrastructure allowing equal cultural experiences will be built. We will set an example of local development based on culture with the City of Culture of the Year, Seogwipo city.”

Vice Minister JEON Byeong-geuk visited Seogwipo, the City of Culture of the Year, unveiled five achievements based on the results of the performance evaluation of programs operated in the first 18 Cities of Culture in 2022, and presented Seogwipo city with the “2023 City of Culture” signboard.

[“Outdoor Culture” Cultivated in 105 Villages of Seogwipo]

Outdoors: Spaces not covered with a roof

Outdoor culture: Lifestyle developed by residents of Seogwipo by adapting to and utilizing nature

Seogwipo is a region with a spectacular natural landscape and 105 organically formed villages. The backbone of Seogwipo as the City of Culture is its outdoor culture that was developed naturally through the lives of local residents, who have lived in harmony with nature represented by Mount Halla, volcanic cones, forests, fields, coasts, and the sea. This Outdoor Culture is the origin of Seogwipo’s culture and cultural assets leading it into the future. Seogwipo was designated as a City of Culture through the first announcement in an effort to build, together with local residents, a global city of ecological culture for future generations based on its diverse outdoor cultures of 105 villages.

Seogwipo is working on five key initiatives: (1) “Seed of Eco Culture” to build the infrastructure for outdoor cultural experiences, (2) “Farm of the Culture for the Future” to build the cultural economy for future generations, (3) “Creative and Cultural Farmers” to foster creative and challenge-loving local talents, (4) “development of the unique City of Culture brand of Seogwipo” to transform Seogwipo from a city of farming and tourism into a global city of culture, and (5) local residents-led infrastructure-building of a city of culture.

In 2022, (1) 47 “Town Lounges” were designated to resolve the issue of the cultural marginalization of Seogwipo’s 105 villages. As a result, privately owned spaces such as cafes, bookstores, and studios were utilized as spaces for local residents’ cultural activities. (2) The Outdoor Culture festival, village stroll, and outdoor market were integrated to facilitate the local economy through sustainable tourism. In particular, “Seongeup Arts Party” celebrating the 600^th anniversary of Seongeup Village, the old hub of living culture; the “outdoor market” participated in by local artists of Seongeup; and the “Village Ranch Stroll” program to discover the traditional pastoral heritage of Junggansan Village were integrated, becoming very popular among residents and tourists alike. (3) The program of making traditional net bags using tewak and mangsari (traditional nets and tools used by Haenyeo, Jeju’s female divers) contributed to the preservation of the traditional outdoor culture and created jobs for senior workers.

[2022 Achievements of the Cities of Culture]

The major achievements of the Cities of Culture, including Seogwipo, based on the results of the performance evaluation of programs operated in 2022 are as follows.

1. Preparing the system for cultural policy implementation led by local governments, represented by mid- to long-term cultural development strategies by region and the establishment of local cultural foundations

Since the plan for the implementation of the City of Culture Project was announced in 2018, 103 cities of Korea, representing 43% of the nation’s 243 cities, have reviewed their regional characteristics and developed a mid- to long-term strategy for local development. In addition, 88 local governments have enacted ordinances on the City of Culture, facilitating local development based on culture. More notably, the system in which local governments lead the implementation of cultural policies was prepared, demonstrated by the sharp increase in the number of cultural foundations set by local-level local governments from 71 in 2018 to 117 in 2023.

2. Improving local cultural infrastructure through the expansion of local cultural spaces and cultural programs

Local cultural facilities and programs were expanded and opened to anyone wanting to have cultural experiences. The cultural infrastructure of cities where accessibility to cultural experiences was lacking due to financial or geographical conditions was improved, as 3,407 cultural spaces were built and utilized in 18 cities, including “landmark-type cultural hubs” representing the region and “neighborhood cultural spots” for daily cultural experiences. By actively utilizing unused and private spaces, including vacant houses, cafes, studios, and bookstores, 2.5 million users (repeated users counted) engaged in local cultural experiences in 2022 without building large-scale or public facilities, representing 33% of the 7.5 million total population of the 18 cities. Given its geographical limitations and regional characteristics of having both urban and agricultural villages, Wanju county is building its community “allowing cultural settlement through the harmony of urban and rural areas.” It has operated the “Byeol Village Hall” program utilizing senior centers and village halls and the program of supporting cultural activities in the farming off-season.

Chuncheon is building the city of cultural lifestyle, where citizens can enjoy cultural experiences in their everyday lives, by operating the “City as a Salon” program encouraging owners of commercial spaces such as chicken restaurants and bowling alleys to plan and share cultural activities with citizens and turning unused empty houses and stores in the old downtown into spaces for cultural activities.

3. Developing a new brand for the city by utilizing the unique local culture

The Cities of Culture have created new local brands by utilizing cultural, historical, and arts resources unique to their region. Yeongdo-gu, Busan, promoted its culture of islands connected to the city by developing a font connecting letters in a line, instead of simply highlighting specific landmarks or specialty products of the region. Yeongdo-gu won three globally prestigious design awards[1] with the font in 2022 alone.

4. Activating the local economy by developing cultural products based on local contents

The Cities of Culture have incubated local contents that invigorate their local communities. Cheongju-si has identified and fostered cultural contents and provided support for developing local contents into global contents with the motif of “Jikji,” the historic symbol of the city. In 2022, Cheongju produced and staged the opera “Cheongju Arirang” as part of the “Made in Cheongju” program aiming to develop regional arts contents. The opera led to higher expectations for K-opera beyond remaining a unique local performance. In addition, 20 local brand teams have developed over 200 types of goods under the “Goodsyou: Youth Cultural Goods Store” [2] program, which aims to promote the sales of local products made by youth. This program promotes the export of local contents, and the goods are currently on sale at the “Han Time” shop in Umeda, Osaka, Japan.

5. Cities of Culture serving as a venue for local policy cooperation and networking

Urban policies have been restructured from a cultural perspective since the Cities of Culture were designated, and the Cities of Culture are emerging as a platform for networking and local policy cooperation. Miryang turned the site of the former Miryang National University that had been left unused for over a decade into “the campus of the local culture” as part of the program to build the City of Culture. This campus has served as a venue for networking and collaboration among government bodies and local communities, including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s program for building spaces for communication and cooperation, Gyeongsangnam-do Office of Education’s “the Sea of Wisdom” library program, and the Ministry of Education’s Korea Polytechnics development program.

[Cities of Culture leading the balanced cultural development of Korea]

In 2023, a total of KRW 36.4 billion will be invested in the development of the 24 Cities of Culture designated through the four announcements, and seven cities will be newly designated as Cities of Culture so that they can lead the balanced cultural development of Korea through networking and collaboration among cities.