Yongin and Jinju Form Sister City Partnership…Joining Forces in Semiconductors and Aerospace

Yongin Special City (Mayor Lee Sang-il) established a sister city relationship with Jinju City in Gyeongnam Province (Mayor Cho Gyu-il) on the 16th and pledged to strengthen cooperation across diverse sectors including economy, culture, tourism, and agriculture.

Through this agreement, Jinju City became Yongin Special City's 19th domestic sister city.

At the ceremony, Mayor Lee Sang-il said, "I would like to express my gratitude to Mayor Cho Gyu-il and Park Mi-kyung, the president of the Jinju City Council, and other officials of Jinju City for their warm welcome of the Yongin Special City delegation. By witnessing the Namgang Lantern Festival, I was able to confirm Jinju City's cultural and artistic capabilities and gain much insight. This experience has made me think that Yongin Special City should also hold festivals that are more abundant and diverse."

The mayor added, "Yongin Special City is advancing as a global semiconductor hub city, and Jinju City is a city building advanced industrial capabilities such as aerospace industry based on K-entrepreneurship spirit. I hope that with this sister city partnership as an opportunity, the two cities will share each other's experiences and discover cooperative projects that leverage each city's strengths, so we can develop together."

Mayor Cho Gyu-il stated, "I find it very meaningful to establish a sisterhood bond with Yongin Special City, which is growing as a center of advanced industries in the Republic of Korea. I hope that practical exchanges will take place in various fields so that Jinju and Yongin can become reliable partners that grow together, sharing each other's strengths and making up for what is lacking."

According to the agreement, the two cities will discover and implement cooperative projects in diverse areas including the promotion of public welfare, cultural group exchanges, tourism resource promotion, expansion of agricultural product markets, cooperation in major events such as festivals and exhibitions, sharing of administrative information, and economic exchanges.

Mayor Lee Sang-il, Mayor Cho Gyu-il, and other officials from both cities boarded the Kim Si-min cruise ship on the Namgang River on the 15th to view the lanterns spread along the riverbank. The mayor then visited the Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival and experienced festival programs including hanging wishing lanterns.

The mayor wrote "Wishing for the development of Yongin Special City and Jinju City, and the happiness of the citizens of both cities" on his wishing lantern and prayed for the development and prosperity of the two cities.

The mayor and the delegation visited the Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Center and the birthplaces of founding executives of major companies such as Samsung, LG, and GS in Jisu Seungsan Village on the 16th, examining Jinju's entrepreneurial spirit and historical assets.