Daegu Named New ‘Culture City of East Asia’ for S. Korea

The metropolitan city government on Tuesday announced that Daegu earned the title as the 2017 city of culture in a four-way competition with three other Korean cities — Changwon, Iksan and Jeonju. (image: Flickr/ Chris Anderson)

DAEGU, Aug. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean government has designated Daegu, a city southeast of Seoul, to represent the country as the “Culture City of East Asia” next year in a joint program aimed at promoting cultural exchanges with China and Japan. 

The metropolitan city government on Tuesday announced that Daegu earned the title as the 2017 city of culture in a four-way competition with three other Korean cities — Changwon, Iksan and Jeonju. 

Daegu’s Chinese and Japanese counterparts are Changsha, the capital of central China’s Hunan Province, and Kyoto, respectively. 

Jury members gave high marks to Daegu’s experience of successfully hosting many international events, its advanced transportation infrastructure and cultural facilities, and good record of cultural exchanges with foreign countries, according to the local government. 

City officials expressed hope that the designation will provide a chance to increase the Chinese and Japanese peoples’ awareness of Daegu’s rich resources in cultural arts and tourism, and the citizens’ accessibility to culture. 

The East Asia Culture City program began in 2014 based on an agreement at the fourth South Korea-China-Japan Cultural Ministerial Meeting held two years earlier. The three countries have selected one city each to represent their cultures every year so they can lead programs to enhance cultural exchanges and cooperation. 

Gwangju, Quanzhou and Yokohama were the chosen cities in 2014 and Cheongju, Qingdao and Niigata in 2015. Last year, Jeju, Ningbo and Nara were selected.

(Yonhap)