LOCAL AUTONOMY
For the promotion of bilateral cooperation and friendship
Yangpyeong German Town for former
Korean miners, nurses in Germany
A large-scale Yangpyeong German Town is constructed in Yangpyeong County (headed by Mayor Kim Sun-Kyo) of Gyeonggi Province some 37 miles east of Seoul. It is built on a land lot of some 620,000 square meters and will have individual and apartment housing facilities of a total floor space of 165,028 square meters to be occupied by 250 families.
On Dec. 2, 2013, there was an impressive meeting on Korea-German Economic Cooperation and Commemorative Event for the Yangpyeong German Town hosted by Chairman Paik Young-hoon of the Korea Industrial Development Institute (KID) at Grand Hyatt Seoul. It was attended by Mayor Kim, Ambassador Rolf Mafael of Germany in Seoul and various other Korean and Germany dignitaries.
There were following details of justification in the construction of the Yangpyeong German Town: (1) Promotion of economic cooperation and exchanges between Korea and Germany on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of formation of diplomatic relations between Korea and Germany and the 50th anniversary of dispatching of Korean miners and nurses to Germany; (2) settlement of the families of the Korean miners and nurses in the Town, who went to Germany in the 1960s; (3) Promotion of friendship between Korea and Germany; (4) construction of an environment-friendly residential district taking advantage of proximity and easy access between Seoul and the Town; and (5) Construction to the development of the region through effective development and utilization of the land for balanced development and contribution to the economic revenue of the locality.
Expected benefits from the construction of the Yangpyeong German Town include: (1) Inducing of one million tourists to Yangpyeong per year as a unique symbolic tourist attraction provided by Korean-Germany cultural cooperation and exchange, (2) Creation of new jobs for the local population and revitalization of the local economy, (3) Industrial production effects of some 57.2 billion won, (4) Expected Value-added effects of 38.7 billion won, and (5) Creation of new jobs for 635 persons.
Speaking to the meeting, Chairman Paik said: “Cooperation between Korea and Germany marks the 130th anniversary this year. Especially after half a century of economic cooperation between Korea and Germany, we are in the process of launching ‘Yangpyeong German Town’ in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, as part of commemoration of the Korean-German cooperation that helped make possible Korea during the initial phase of Korea’s rapid economic development.”
Then he said that this commemorative event for launching Yangpyeong German Town is aimed at promotion of economic, industrial, and cultural cooperation between the two countries and to enhance cooperation and friendship for the future generations of the two countries.
There were commemorative greetings by Ambassador Rolf Mafael of Germany in Seoul, a congratulatory speech by Mayor Kim Sun-Kyo of Yangpyeong County and presentation of a paper by Executive Director Kwon Ki-Jung of KID. k