To attend Korea Wellness Tourist Fest on October 1
By Publisher Lee Kyung-sik with Managing Editor Kevin Lee, Tourism Editor Yeu Min-yul
Minister of Culture, Sports & Tourism Park Bo-gyoon, together with Mayor Roh Gwan-gyu of the Suncheon City and President Shin Sang-yong of the Korea Tourism Organization, cordially invites the interested ambassadors and madams to attend the Opening Ceremony of the "2022 Korea Wellness Tourism Festival” on October 1 this year in the picturesque port city of Suncheon, Jeollanam-do Province, some 200 miles south of Seoul.
Each participating ambassador is presented with a prestigious Plaque of Citation in recognition of the participant's interest in the promotion relations, cooperation and friendship between Korea and the country represented by the ambassador.
The event will be extensively covered by The Korea Post media with all its five news media outlets, 3 in English and 2 in the Korean language, including www.koreapost.com (English) and www.koreapost.co.kr (Korean).
For related articles on the Plaque of Citation, please visit:
http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=25925
http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=25876
http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=24953
http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=24853
http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=24698
The Suncheon City in Jeollanam-do province has many tourist attractions interesting to the ambassadors and other international visitors. The city also hosts various interesting historical and cultural events in the autumn season and this year, too, expectations are high that there would be many celebrations befitting the wonderful seasons, neither too warm nor chilly.
Wikipedia has an adequate measure of introductory information about the Suncheon city. Here are excerpts from the details in the world encyclopedia:
Suncheon City is a scenic agricultural and industrial city of around 250,000 people near the Suncheon Bay. Suncheon is located in the southeastern corner of the south-western Jeollanam-do Province.
History: During the Era of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, it was a territory of the Baekje Kingdom, and was named the Gampyeong County.
Tourism: The 2013 Suncheon Garden Expo Korea was the first of its kind to be held in Korea. The Expo focused on green industry development such as solar energy, sustainable garden development and electronic transportation. It showcased green technologies, international garden exhibits, and wetland conservation. The Expo grounds, its permanent gardens, arboretum, wetland center, and connecting monorail to Suncheon Bay are maintained for continued tourism.
Buddhist Temples: Songgwang-sa Temple is one of the Three Jewel Temples of Korea and a popular place for the noted Korean Buddhist Monk, Ven. Jinul. The temple is located in Sinpyeong-ni, Songgwang-myeon. It is one of the Sambosachal (Three Important Temples) along with Haein-sa Buddhist Temple of Hapcheon and Tongdo-sa Buddhist Temple of Yangsan.
Ven. Jinul strived here to renew the tradition of Buddhism 800 years ago. The temple bore 16 state monks in the past. Today, the temple is home for monks from overseas and is a place to study the Buddhist culture of Korea. The temple was first built at the end of Silla Kingdom and named Gilsang Temple. It was then renamed in the Goryeo Dynasty under the reign of King Myeongjong, to Songgwang-sa Temple.
Reconstructions were done after it was burnt down in the Joseon dynasty, but was severely damaged again in 1948 and 1951. At present, 33 complexes have been restored after 8 reconstruction projects from 1984 to 1988. The temple has a total of 26 cultural assets, including 17 national cultural assets and 9 local ones.
Seonam-sa Buddhist Temple: Seonam-sa Temple of Mount Jogye is located in Jukak-ri, Seungju-eup, Suncheon. In the Baekje Kingdom, Adohwasang had first built a small temple in the mountain and named it Biroam Rock of Cheongnyangsan Mountain. The temple was named Seonam-sa later in the Silla Kingdom by state monk Doseon. Seonam-sa is known to be a mixture of the various sects of Buddhism of the Goryeo dynasty.
Korean Buddhist Cheontae Order was established here 900 years ago by Ui Cheon and the monk's heirs have been carried down to the present age. Seonam-sa Temple, like Songgwang-sa Temple, is a library for studies of Korean Buddhist culture. A total of 18 cultural assets are found here, including 7 treasures and 11 local cultural assets.
Cheonja-am, Ssanghyangsu: Belongs to the Chinese juniper family, and is technically named Juniperus Chinensi Limme. The height is 12.5 m and the circumference is 3.98m. The tree is about 700 years old. According to the legend, the cane used by a Buddhist on his way back from China had grown into the tree. The tree is uniquely twisted form.
Natural monument No, 88 (designated on Dec. 3, 1962).
Ieub-ri, Songgwang-myeon (Songgwang Temple).
Area 600 pyeong (1.98 km2).
Castles:-
Nagan Castle, the only remaining Joseon castle in South Jeolla Province. It is well preserved and has many festivals like the Namdo food festival.
Suncheon Japanese Castle, a Japanese castle built during the Japanese invasions of Korea.
Mountains: -
Jogyesan: The mountain where Songgwang Temple and Seonam-sa are located.
Geumjeon-san: Surrounding north of Nagan Castle.
Bonghwasan: The nearest mountain from the center of the city. There's Jukdobong Park having a lookout pavilion.
Parks
Suncheon Bay Ecological Park: The world's fifth biggest tideland, featuring reed beds and there many types of birds. The area was designated as a preservation zone by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in 2003.
Suncheonman Bay National Garden: This garden is home to over 790,000 trees and was stablished on a plot of 1.112 km2 (0.429 sq mi) to help protect Suncheon Bay.
Goindol Park, a dolmen park in Hwasun, Suncheon: Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites were designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.
Suncheon Open Film Location: Drama film set located in the neighborhood of Jorye-dong. This set was created to film movies and dramas in 2006. The village is split in three eras: 1950's Suncheon, 1960's Seoul Bongcheong-dong Village and 1970's Seoul suburb.
Naganeupseong Folk Village: a historic village representing the traditional lifestyle and cultural landscape in the Joseon Dynasty. It was originally and administrative town and has preserved traditional elements such as a fortress, government buildings and private houses.
Museums
The Deep-Rooted Tree Museum is located close to Naganeupseong Walled Town. A collection of Korean famous magazine’s founder, Han Chang-gi; as well as artifacts from the Bronze Age to the present era are displayed. The museum also features 6,500 articles including Korean vintage literature books, folk arts, ceramics, and traditional items of clothing from the Three Kingdoms era, in which visitors could sense the ancient-modern Korean culture and lifestyles.
Filming Locations:
Jorye-dong, which is located in Suncheon is the largest filming site in Korea, which preserves the 60s and 80s buildings. Visitors could experience vintage village life in the 1960s and 1980s, as there are 200 houses with 39,669.6 m². A remake drama written by Kim Soo-Hyeo, Love and Ambition, starring actor Lee Byung-hun and actress Soo-ae was filmed in Jorye-dong, Suncheon. Other hit movies and dramas such as You Are Far Away (2008) and Giant (2010) were also shot in the same city.
In 2021, the Korea Tourism Organization released a music video in collaboration with Korea’s famous hip-hop label AOMG and Higher Music to produce a soundtrack to highlight the attractions and cultural heritage in Korea. The clips of the music video were filmed in Suncheon, which demonstrates the coexistence of tradition and contemporary lifestyles In Korea.
Slogans: On its website, Suncheon is dubbed by its city council as the City of Beautiful People, and its slogan is "Aha! Suncheon."
Twin towns and sister cities around the world:
Turkey: Antalya, Turkey
United States: Columbia, United States
Japan: Izumi, Japan
Serbia: Kragujevac, Serbia
France: Nantes, France
China: Taiyuan, China
Notable people from Suncheon:
Lee Seul-bi, South Korean actress
Minhee (Real Name: Kang Min-hee), singer, dancer and K-pop idol, member of K-pop boygroup Cravity.
Kai, singer, rapper, dancer, actor, model and K-pop idol, member of K-pop boygroup Exo, the sub unit Exo-K and the K-pop Superboygroup Super M.
Kim Ok-vin, South Korean actress
Jun, singer, dancer and K-pop idol, leader and member of K-pop boygroup A.C.E.
Hae Yoon, singer, dancer and K-pop idol, leader and member of K-pop girl group Cherry Bullet.
Hyunseung, singer, dancer and K-pop idol, former member of K-pop boygroup Beast.
Gongchan, singer, dancer, model, actor, MC and K-pop idol, member of K-pop boygroup B1A4
Chaeyeon, singer, dancer, model, actress and K-pop idol, member of K-pop girl group DIA and former member of K-pop girl group I.O.I
Yoon Shi-yoon, South Korean actor
Miryo, singer-songwriter, rapper, dancer, record producer and K-pop idol, member of K-pop girl group Brown Eyed Girls
Eyedi, singer, songwriter, and actress under Bace Camp Studios, former contestant on Mixnine.
Kang Heodallim, blues singer-songwriter
Park Gyeul, South Korea Golf Player
Park Cho-seon, a female Pansori Korean classical musician and eponymous poet during the Japanese colonial period.
