[Anchor]
Gyeonggi Province's Suwon City has designated this year and next year as "Visit Suwon Year," officially beginning preparations to welcome visitors. The city recently held a selection contest to find actors to portray King Jeongjo, who built Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, and his mother, Lady Hyegyeong.
Reporter Choi Ho-won has the story.
[Reporter]
Women dressed in traditional hanbok appear one by one on the stage at Suwon Hwaseong Haenggung.
This contest selects actors to play King Jeongjo, who constructed the Hwaseong Fortress walls in 1796, and his mother, Lady Hyegyeong. Residents and office workers in Suwon are eligible to participate.
Instead of hanbok, a Western-style dress is used to creatively portray Lady Hyegyeong.
In the subsequent contest for King Jeongjo, most participants take to the stage in suits.
The final selected man and woman will participate in the "Joint Reenactment of King Jeongjo's Royal Tomb Procession" scheduled for October 4.
[Bae Kyeong-suk / Selected as Lady Hyegyeong: "In celebration of Visit Suwon Year for 2026-2027, I will fully fulfill my role as Lady Hyegyeong."]br>
[Na Gwang-yeol / Selected as King Jeongjo: "I will make a great contribution to leading Suwon into a new era and making its citizens shine."]br>
Earlier this year, Suwon City proclaimed this year, which marks the 230th anniversary of the fortress's construction, and next year, the 30th anniversary of its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site, as "Visit Suwon Year."
During the first regular meeting of the Visit Suwon Year Promotion Committee held on the 14th, the city set an annual target of attracting 15 million domestic and international tourists.
[Lee Jae-jun / Mayor of Suwon: "To create a virtuous cycle where visitors explore, stay, spend, and return, it is impossible without innovation across various fields such as dining, accommodation, shopping, and transportation."]br>
The city also decided to form a Global Culture and Tourism Festival Committee and push forward with plans to elevate the region's three major festivals—the Suwon Hwaseong Media Art show, the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival, and the King Jeongjo Tomb Procession Reenactment—to an international level.
Moving forward, Suwon City plans to continuously discover and promote local resources beyond Hwaseong Haenggung, including the Hanok village, fried chicken culinary culture, and regional independence movement heritage sites, to strengthen its foundation as a "stay-over tourism city."
(Video Editing: Jang Woon-seok, Footage provided by: Suwon City Hall)
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