Bonghwa-gun Accelerates K-Vietnam Valley Initiative... Developing into a Multicultural Cradle

【Financial News Bonghwa=Kim Jangwook Reporter】Bonghwa-gun is accelerating the 'K-Vietnam Valley Creation Project' (hereinafter referred to as the project), a population increase project that is being promoted with emphasis.
This project is a tourism development project fostered under the brand 'Bongnam' (Bonghwa + Vietnam).
Together with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Education, Gyeongbuk Province, and Gyeongbuk Office of Education, this project aims to attract domestic and international tourists, promote friendship between Korea and Vietnam, and utilize it as a space for multicultural people to gather and exchange through the development of the only Vietnamese Ly Dynasty relics in Korea.
This project will be carried out on a site of 118,890㎡ in the area of Bongseong-myeon Changpyeong-ri, a clan village of the Hwasan Lee family, where Chung Hyodang, which honors the Vietnamese Ly Dynasty, is located, with a project cost of about 200 billion won (100 billion won from the national budget, 21 billion won from the provincial budget, 49 billion won from the county budget, and 30 billion won from private investment) by 2033.
It will be divided into historical, recreational, and cultural zones.
This place will include Vietnamese Ly Dynasty relics, historical facilities such as the statue of Ly Thai To, a Korea-Vietnam historical and cultural content center, training and accommodation facilities (lotus-shaped), a multicultural international school, a career connection center, a terraced rice field experience center, shrines, and gardens.
In particular, it is expected to be a core project to overcome the accelerating crisis of local extinction in the county by increasing the living population through multicultural international schools, career connection centers, and tourism.
This project is not simply about installing a few sculptures of Vietnam's five famous scenic spots and attracting tourists or immigrants. To achieve not only population inflow but also the living population increase effect that the government is considering, it plans to promote it as a living center for Vietnamese people residing in Korea.
Park Hyung-guk, the governor, said, "This project is not just about development, but a desperate survival strategy to revive dying regions, and I am confident it will become an international model for population increase policies," adding, "It is establishing itself as a national interest and a hub of diplomacy and culture beyond a local project. Changpyeong-ri is preparing to transform from a mere historical site into a 'Vietnam within Korea' that is alive and breathing."


The Vietnam Ly Dynasty was the first long-term independent dynasty to break away from being a Chinese vassal state. Therefore, the status of the Ly Dynasty is unique to the Vietnamese people.
Ly Dynasty's 6th Emperor Ly Anh Tong's son Ly Long Tuong (founder of the Hwasan Lee family) fled when the Chinese Jin royal family staged a coup and settled in Hwasan, Ongjin, Goryeo in 1226. At that time, the court bestowed upon him the surname 'Hwasan Lee'.
Bonghwa-gun Bongseong-myeon is where Lee Ilcheong, the second son of Ly Long Tuong, was appointed as the governor of Andong, creating a clan village of the Hwasan Lee family.
Also, in Bonghwa-gun Bongseong-myeon, where his descendants reside, there is Chung Hyodang (Cultural Heritage Material No. 466), which honors the loyalty and filial piety of Lee Jangbal, the 13th generation descendant of Ly Long Tuong (20th generation descendant of Ly Thai To, founder of the Ly Dynasty).
When the Japanese invasions of Korea broke out, Lee Jangbal, at the young age of 19, was the head of his family under a single mother and went to the battlefield with his mother's permission, dying in a fierce battle at Mungyeong Saejae. At the time of his honorable death, a poem expressing his loyalty and filial piety was found in his bosom, and its content is hung on the pillar of Chung Hyodang.
Given these historical facts, the descendants of the Ly Dynasty have lived in Bonghwa for over 800 years, leaving many cultural traces.gimju@fnnews.com Kim Jangwook Reporter