By Brian Deutsch
Contributing Writer
GWANGJU ― Fresh from losing out on the 2013 games, authorities here are deep in the process of bidding for the right to host the 2015 Summer Universiade. The city hopes being host will boost its name recognition worldwide, but it must be remembered that it has reputation-building to do at home as well.
There is an assumption that Gwangju and South Jeolla Province are the backwards corner of the country ― a poor, politically neglected region. However, new developments in recent years, and those planned in years to come, contradict that stereotype. The figures, too, offer a rebuttal: In terms of gross domestic product (GDP), South Jeolla ranks seventh out of South Korea's 16 administrative divisions, and in per capita GDP it is third in the country.
A lot of the region's growth is thanks to the 2012 World Expo, another massive international event coming to the area, awarded to the coastal city of Yeosu in 2007. Expressways will better connect Yeosu with Suncheon, Gwangyang and cities to the east, and a high-speed rail line will reach Yeosu and Suncheon ahead of the event. The Expo will bring in more money, more jobs and more visitors, and, accordingly, there are already bridges, roads, hotels and foreign-language specialists being developed all over.
Something else that brings the tourists here are spring festivals, of which South Jeolla has some of the best known in the country. The Gwangyang Apricot Festival each March signals the beginning of the season, and the sansuyu blossoms in Gurye, the cherry blossoms in Suncheon, and the azaleas in Yeosu keep the pace. Last year, Hampyeong county upgraded its annual butterfly festival into the world's first Butterfly and Insect Expo, and this year it's back on a smaller, more comfortable scale. And two of Korea's legendary figures, Yi Sun-shin and Jangbogo, will have festivals of their own in Yeosu and Wando, respectively.
These festivals augment some of southern Korea's representative sites. From May 3 through 5, Suncheon will host the Folk Culture Festival at Nagan Folk Village, considered the best-preserved folk village in the country. Set within an old fortress built to keep the pirates out, visitors can sample food, watch traditional and contemporary performances, and view the countryside from atop the city walls.
The Damyang Bamboo Festival takes place from May 2 through 7 at Damyang county's famed bamboo forest. Guests wander through seemingly endless pillars of green, the setting for many a movie and soap opera, as the wind softly whistles through whatever openings it can find.
The Boseong Green Tea festival is on the following weekend, from May 8 through 11, and has as its centerpiece the spacious green tea fields that seem to undulate as they cover the hills in Boseong county. Planted during Japanese occupation, the fields are a staple of anyone's photo gallery and a must-visit in the region.
The regional development has brought a new airport to Muan, a Free Economic Zone to Gwangyang and, paradoxically, four "slow cities" to Jeollanam-do. It will bring Formula One racing to Yeongam county in 2010, casinos to Haenam a few years later, and a completed Namak New City by 2019. And Gwangju itself is making chances, having designated itself the "Hub City of Asian Culture." It has begun work to radically change the appearance of its downtown and the area near the old Provincial Hall, transforming the site of violence and protests during the 1980 massacre into something new for the 21st century.
Gwangju will face very stiff competition from the other candidate cities, Taipei and Edmonton, before the winner is announced on May 23. It must prove that it has more than enthusiastic crowds at the airport: that it has the infrastructure and venues in place, not only to host the event but also to trump its competitors. And though it has President Lee Myung-bak's support, Gwangju will need the interest and enthusiasm of the rest of the country's citizens as well. It will need to be given a fair shake and a few approving nods for what it's doing and plans to do. It needs this all the year round, not simply when there's a festival on, or an international event to be won.