Yongin Special City Establishes Sister City Relationship with Williamson County, Texas

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Choi Ki-ho] Yongin Special City and Williamson County, Texas, established a sister city relationship on January 9 local time at the Williamson County Expo Center in the United States.

Previously, on September 28 of last year, Bill Gravell, representative of Williamson County, and related officials visited Yongin Mir Stadium where the "Yongin City Day" event was held and established a sister city relationship. Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin responded with a visit to Williamson County on January 9 afternoon (local time) to formalize the sister city relationship.

Williamson County passed a resolution designating January 9, the day Mayor Lee and the Yongin delegation visited, as "Yongin City Day," and demonstrated its warm welcome by installing an honorary road name sign reading "Yongin Boulevard (yongin Blvd)" on the road leading to the new foundry facility that Samsung Electronics is constructing in Taylor, a city within Williamson County.

Local U.S. media outlet FOX News also covered the establishment of the sister city relationship between Yongin and Williamson County on this day, interviewed Mayor Lee Sang-il, and reported on prospects for future mutual development between the two cities.

Mayor Lee Sang-il and Bill Gravell, representative of Williamson County, promised through the sister city ceremony to establish a new advanced industrial base centered on semiconductors and to actively cooperate in the fields of culture and education.

Attending the agreement ceremony were Mayor Lee Sang-il, Representative Bill Gravell, and Dwayne Ariola, mayor of Taylor, a city within Williamson County.

Officials from Williamson County and Taylor, as well as Minh Tran, chairman of the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce, who had met with Mayor Lee in the morning to expand business exchanges, also attended to celebrate the sister city relationship between the two cities.

Mayor Lee Sang-il said, "On September 28 of last year at the 'Yongin Citizen's Day' event, Yongin and Williamson County established a sister city relationship. Williamson County has designated today, when the sister city ceremony is being held in Williamson County, as 'Yongin City Day,' and Yongin citizens will be very proud when they learn of this fact." He added, "The two cities share the common ground of being innovative, developing cities based on advanced industries including semiconductors, and we will explore ways to cooperate not only in industry but also in culture, as well as in exchanges between university professors and students in the region."

The mayor stated, "I am very grateful that Williamson County designated a road name 'Samsung Highway' to connect the road linking the existing highway to the foundry production facility site where Samsung Electronics is constructing with an investment of approximately 54.5 trillion won, with a target completion date of 2030, and installed a sign with the honorary road name 'Yongin Boulevard' in front of the factory. Yongin will also designate an honorary road name for Williamson County and install a sign." He continued, "We will work to ensure that the relationship between the two cities, which have begun mutual cooperation by establishing a sister city relationship, matures in various fields."

Bill Gravell, representative of Williamson County, stated, "Yongin, which has established the world's best semiconductor industry base, is a city with a very high level of culture and education, and an attractive city with which we want to exchange and develop in various fields." He added, "I was genuinely moved by the appearance of Mayor Lee Sang-il and Yongin's public officials when I visited Yongin last year, and exchanges with Yongin will expand in scope from economics and industry to culture and people-to-people exchanges."

Dwayne Ariola, mayor of Taylor, who attended the sister city agreement ceremony, also expressed high expectations for the development of the two cities.

Taylor Mayor Dwayne Ariola said, "When I visited Yongin last year for the establishment of a sister city relationship between Yongin and Williamson County, I felt that Korean people are very courteous and have forward-thinking perspectives." He added, "I plan to inform local schools and organizations about Yongin and prepare programs where people can learn Korean culture."

Prior to establishing the sister city relationship, Mayor Lee Sang-il met with Bill Gravell, representative of Williamson County, and officials from Texas State University at the Williamson County Courthouse in Georgetown to discuss ways for universities in the two cities to exchange.

The Williamson County Courthouse is the building where Representative Bill Gravell's office is located and serves to execute the law and administration of Williamson County. Bill Gravell's title is Judge. According to Williamson County officials, it is a long-standing tradition in Texas that the representative of a county-level city is elected by vote of local residents to serve as a judge who acts as the head of both administration and law.

Texas State University, founded in 1899, is the fifth-largest university in Texas. It has campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock in Texas and is currently constructing a new campus in Williamson County.

Williamson County and Texas State University conveyed to Mayor Lee Sang-il their desire to establish student and faculty exchange programs with universities in Yongin and requested support.

A representative of Texas State University stated, "We have currently concluded student exchange agreements with three universities in the Republic of Korea, and we would like to operate exchange programs with universities in Yongin as well." The official added, "Texas State University has strengths in biotechnology and business management, and with support from the government and investment companies, we are developing semiconductor-related programs. We expect good results if we exchange with universities in Yongin, a semiconductor-centered city."

Bill Gravell, representative of Williamson County, also proposed to Mayor Lee Sang-il, "In addition to cultural and economic exchanges with Yongin, greater benefits can be achieved if we also exchange faculty members with specialized knowledge."

Mayor Lee Sang-il responded, "I agree with the proposals from Texas State University and Williamson County, and I believe that cooperative relationships between universities in the two regions will greatly contribute to the future development of the two cities. We will explore ways for Texas State University to exchange with nine universities in Yongin."

Meanwhile, Williamson County announced plans to welcome Mayor Lee Sang-il's visit enthusiastically on this day and make efforts to widely promote Yongin's culture and development achievements to the region. Representative Bill Gravell explained that gifts received from Yongin will be displayed in the most visible location in the new government building exhibition hall, which is scheduled to open in December this year, and that a festival related to "Yongin City Day" is also being planned.

The Williamson County Commissioners Court will pass a resolution through a meeting designating January 9 as "Yongin City Day" and will encourage all county officials and local residents to participate in events to understand Yongin's culture.

Meanwhile, a County in the United States is a larger administrative division than a City, and one county contains multiple cities. Williamson County oversees and manages 27 cities including Taylor. As a rapidly growing city with a monthly population increase of approximately 4,000 people, as of 2024, the population reaches approximately 700,000.