Gyeonggi-Do: One of South Korea’s most important gateways to the outside world

Mr. Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi-Do,

By Dr. Hassan Humeida – Germany

Gyeonggi-Do: South Korea was the successful host of the World Journalists’ Conference on September 14 – 16, 2020.

The eighteenth conference was held as online conference, this time in the context of COVID-19, and was attended by an estimated one hundred media professionals, journalists and writers from more than 52 countries.

The conference revolved around three fundamental issues: fake news, the world’s interaction with the coronavirus, the seventieth anniversary of the Korean War, and the efforts for peace on the Korean peninsula.

The conference was conducted under complex circumstances with the integrated support of Gyeonggi-Do and under the supervision of its Governor, Mr. Lee Jae-myung, and with him the Mayor of Suwon City, Mr. Yum Tae-young. The thing that made the global meeting a successful meeting by all standards.  This is not because the conferences achieved results that satisfied only the Koreans, but rather results that strive to spread peace to other countries in the world.

Gyeonggi-Do, one of the country’s eight provinces, is located in the northwest of South Korea, and in all these provinces the word “Do” means a province or region.

This important province borders on the South Korean capital Seoul, making it the most populous province in South Korea with over 13 million inhabitants. The importance of this province dates back to the 18^th century BC, when Korea was divided into three great kingdoms, Gyeonggi-Do became one of them, and it still plays an important role in the civilizing and cultural documentation of the history of this region. What makes the province an area of historical and tourist significance is the fact that it provides researchers and tourists with a significant amount of information from the ancient archive bank of the Korean peninsula.

Apart from the tourist role that the province embodies, it also plays an important role in the Korean economy. It is one of the most populous provinces in South Korea, and about one-fifth of the population lives there.

Rather, it is considered one of the fastest growing provinces in South Korea, which has become a magnet that attracts visitors for economic, tourist or professional reasons. The reason for this is the unlimited opportunities that this province offers to Koreans in the presence of job offers. It is not limited to Koreans, but also applies to people visiting South Korea from other neighboring countries. In Gyeonggi-Do, people come from everywhere to work in more than one area, such as industry, tourism and the arts.

Gyeonggi-Do is one of South Korea’s most important gateways to the outside world, especially through its unrestricted openness to the countries of Southeast Asia and in many business relationships. The province, where the sun shines, goes out to the rest of the world without any concessions. What makes it the most important economic and industrial center of South Korea, and what is rather called the heart of the Korean economy. There are 25% small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea, for example transportation companies and heavy industries such as steel, chemical products, electronic equipment, agricultural machinery and the textile industry. In addition, Gyeonggi-Do plays an important role in the food sector, such as agriculture, livestock, fishing and their products.

Recent economic statistics on investment show that Gyeonggi-Do is one of the preferred provinces for investment in South Korea. This is due to the fact that the province has the right atmosphere for investors, which is reflected in the availability of skilled labor and personnel as well as funds for investment consulting in production, marketing and product development.

In addition, the provincial government and its cities encourage investors in various fields to give them the necessary support to continue their investment projects. For example, each year a ceremony is held to celebrate the investing companies and their employees, to motivate them for their investment efforts and economic success with recognition and symbolic awards such as the “Excellence Award”.

The current governor of Gyeonggi-Do from the city of Suwon is Mr. Lee Jae-myung, who studied law and became a lawyer and politician. Before that, however, he was the mayor of Seongnam. Mr. Lee Jae-myung, a respected man in Korean society, is recognized for his great efforts to establish a social care program for the elderly in his country and for his work in the field of education.

Mr. Lee Jae-myung is a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, and because of his closeness to the Korean people and their needs, he is considered one of the strongest candidates for the Korean presidency at the next session in 2022, which was one of his last successes this year, his effective response to contain the outbreak of the corona virus and his regional defense against the consequences of this virus.