Famous for the Hwasun Dolmen Remains, the world's only dolmen colony registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Hwasun County in South Jeolla Province is now setting its sights on the future, according to Gu Bog-gyu, the county’s governor, pointing to the city's 10,000 won ($7.50) apartments.

“Outside the capital region, many rural areas face a serious population decline problem, and Hwasun was no exception. However, by offering 10,000 won apartments to younger generations since last year, Hwasun has successfully attracted them and been becoming a sustainable county,” Gu told The Korea Herald.

Hwasun, which is located in central South Jeolla Province with a population of 60,000, attracted public attention recently for providing 100 apartment units to newlyweds and young Koreans last year. Occupants must pay only 10,000 won a month for rent, with no deposit required. With this unconventional measure, the number of babies born in the county climbed nearly 20 percent in a year -- 212 babies were born last year, compared to 178 in 2022. Also, the problem of apartment vacancies was solved and the local commercial area has been vitalized with young people coming in. Hwasun plans to supply an additional 100 apartments every year for the next four years, Gu added.

As well as attracting younger people, Gu said he puts great effort into preparing for up-and-coming industries of the future.

“Hwasun produces the most Oriental orchids in Korea. The county's orchid bulb industry is a promising high-value-added industry, given that the domestic flower market is worth 6 trillion won and is growing,” said Gu. High-quality orchids can be very expensive, for instance, in China an orchid bulb can sell for 3 billion to 4 billion won, Gu explained.

“The county office set up a task force for the orchid bulb industry and invested 3 billion won last year to build various production facilities. It also opened related training courses at the Agricultural Technology Center in Hwasun. Shortly, we will build a total of 3,000 square meters of greenhouse space for orchids.”

The governor has also set another goal of attracting 5 million tourists to the county annually by promoting its UNESCO World Heritage site, the Dolmen Remains. A dolmen is a grave of prehistoric age and a kind of megalithic monument. They are found all over the world with Korea at the center. While there are about 19,000 in South Jeolla Province, Hwasun has about 2,000. The Hwasun Dolmen Site was registered on the list of World Heritage in 2000 along with the Gochang and Ganghwa Dolmens.

“Hwasun, which is home to Mudeungsan, is a town with a long history, clean natural environment, breathtaking seasonal scenery, tradition and culture, and has enough charm, including the Hwasun Dolmen Remains, beautiful red cliffs, Unjusa, Ssangbongsa and Cheonbulcheon Pagoda, to attract people from all over the world,” Gu said.

The county plans to divide up tourist destinations in Hwasun by region to create a structure for promoting tourism. To this end, the Hwasun Foundation for Culture and Tourism was launched in November.

Gu sees his strategy to become a world-class tourist destination as shaping up nicely.

“We planted a large number of flowers at the Dolmen Site, so a large-scale flower festival, the Hwasun Dolmen Autumn Flower Festival, was held last year. And it successfully attracted 830,000 tourists," he said. "Furthermore, the old and small village of Mosan in the county was selected as the best tourism village by UN Tourism last year.”

To turn Hwasun into a new tourist destination, Gu also vowed to develop abandoned mine areas in the county into tourist attractions.

“The 118-year-old Hwasun Mine, the nation's first coal mine, was permanently closed in June last year. Now I’m considering how to utilize a total of 2.3 square kilometers of the site well to turn it into a strong tourist attraction,” he said. Currently, the county plans to use this space as a golf course.

"I will keep trying to seek constant change and innovation to solve various tasks we have," Gu said.

Gu additionally pledged to continuously provide close and practical help for the lives of residents.

“As the number of immigrant women married to Koreans increases, Hwasun is rapidly changing into a multicultural society. My daughter-in-law is also a foreign woman who married into Korea from a foreign country,” he said, adding he would establish proper support systems for the county.

“We have established a dedicated multicultural task force team, the first in the country, to support multicultural families in the county. Immigrant women married to Koreans from five countries -- Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Japan and China -- have been recruited as civil servants, and they visit multicultural families to provide support.”

Profile

Gov. Gu Bog-gyu began his career as a civil servant in 1974 after passing the Hwasun County Public Recruitment Test. He was promoted to the local administrative officer in 1999 and served as the head of Hwasun County’s Culture and Tourism Division and the town mayor of Hwasun-eup, Hancheon-myeon and Sapyeong-myeon. Gu began his political career in 2011 by winning a South Jeolla Provincial Assembly seat. After serving two terms, he was elected to govern Hwasun in 2022.