Hongcheon County Governor Shin Young-jae Meets Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Seeks Art Museum and 700 Million Won in State Funding

【Financial News, Hongcheon = Reporter Kim Gi-seop】Hongcheon County has requested active support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for a candidate site for a national regional hub art museum and a project to improve facilities at the Culture and Arts Center, which is marking its 31st year since opening.
According to Hongcheon County on the 13th, County Governor Shin Young-jae met with the First Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism at 10 a.m. that day and proposed that Hongcheon be considered as a candidate site for a national regional hub art museum. He also requested 700 million won in central government funding next year to improve performance conditions and safety facilities at the Hongcheon Culture and Arts Center.
The art museum envisioned by the county would have a gross floor area of 15,000–20,000 square meters and offer a full range of functions, including exhibitions, research on artworks and materials, education, regional exchange, and collection storage and preservation. The plan is to give it a distinct character from urban art museums by incorporating Hongcheon's natural, ecological, and rural resources and local communities into exhibitions, education, and creative activities, and to develop it into a hub for cultural engagement in Gangwon State.
The county highlighted the transportation network as a locational advantage. The area is connected to the Seoul metropolitan area by the Seoul–Yangyang Expressway, the Jungang Expressway, and the Yongmun–Hongcheon railway, and lies along a route linking Yeongseo and Yeongdong. The county says this would help ease the concentration of cultural demand in the Seoul metropolitan area and improve access to culture and the arts for residents of Gangwon State.
The Culture and Arts Center project is budgeted at 1 billion won in total, with work targeted to begin next year. The county plans to spend 700 million won in central government funding and 300 million won in county funds, allocating 500 million won each to replacing the grand piano in the main auditorium and installing a stage fire curtain. The current piano has been in use for 31 years, since the center opened in 1995, and its declining sound quality has made it difficult to host professional performances.
A new stage fire curtain will be installed in the 497-seat main auditorium to meet the safety standards under the Performance Act and protect against fires. The county plans to create a venue where audience members and people involved in performances can feel safe.
Hongcheon County Governor Shin Young-jae stressed that expanding cultural infrastructure is a key task in broadening residents' opportunities to enjoy culture and supporting the region's sustainable development. He also asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to actively support the review of the art museum candidate site and the project to improve performance conditions.

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