Fifty years in the past, the newly established Gangnam District — in the present day a serious hub of Seoul’s economic system and tradition — was little greater than open fields and farmland.
Now the district’s mayor, Cho Sung-myung was as soon as a neighborhood 18-year-old, rising up as the realm round him was being reshaped right into a bustling city panorama.
Practically 5 many years later, having witnessed Gangnam’s transformation firsthand, Cho takes satisfaction in calling himself “a real Gangnam native” and is already waiting for what the subsequent 50 years may convey.
“When Gangnam was first developed within the Nineteen Seventies, the main focus was on constructing as a lot housing as attainable,” Cho mentioned throughout an interview with The Korea Instances. “Cultural, leisure and environmental values had been ignored, however in the present day’s international pattern emphasizes high quality of life.”
Cho believes the district is prepared for that shift, pointing to its increasing cultural choices and rising function as a world medical hub.
The 2025 Gangnam Pageant, now in its 14th 12 months and that includes applications from music to style, highlights this shift. This 12 months’s occasion to mark the district’s fiftieth anniversary attracted roughly 910,000 individuals on-line and offline.
Individuals watch fireworks in the course of the Yeongdong-daero Ok-pop Live performance, a part of this 12 months’s Gangnam Pageant, in Gangnam District, Seoul, Sept. 27. Courtesy of Gangnam District Workplace
“As somebody who has lived right here for almost 50 years, I’m very happy with this consequence and see it as recognition of the district as a middle of tradition and tourism,” Cho mentioned, referring to the pageant’s success.
Efforts to spice up the district’s cultural enchantment additionally embrace applications that enable guests to expertise its character firsthand.
One instance is “You N Each Expertise in Gangnam,” a strolling tour main guests by way of the district’s main points of interest — from historic websites like Bongeunsa Temple, a 1,200-year-old Buddhist temple situated within the coronary heart of the town, to the modern streets of Cheongdam-dong, identified for its luxurious boutiques and designer manufacturers.
The district additionally operates Gangnam Artwork, a two-hour docent-led tour of native galleries that attracts each longtime artwork lovers and newcomers.
“The energy of our experience-based applications is that they draw on the district’s cultural heritage, permitting residents and vacationers to get pleasure from it collectively,” Cho mentioned. “We purpose to construct sustainable tourism sources that present distinctive experiences and strengthen the group.”
Guests view artworks at a gallery in Gangnam District, Seoul, Sept. 3. Courtesy of Gangnam District Workplace
Alongside its cultural applications, the district has additionally change into a hub for medical tourism, supported by main hospitals and modern initiatives.
Medical Gangnam, the nation’s first native authorities platform for medical tourism, provides customers worldwide free consultations, price estimates and low cost coupons from associate hospitals.
The district additionally supplies medical-assistance applications for folks from international locations equivalent to Mongolia and Kazakhstan, the place curiosity in superior medical providers is very excessive.
Cho recalled a case that stayed with him: a Mongolian lady born with out a fully-formed ear who acquired reconstructive surgical procedure by way of a charity program.
“She used to cover her ear together with her hair,” he mentioned. “After the surgical procedure, she mentioned she needed to change into a physician and return the kindness she acquired. It was deeply transferring.”
Believing that the district’s future lies in international openness, Cho additionally focuses on supporting its international residents and serving to native firms increase globally.
The Gangnam World Village Heart helps the district’s international residents with language courses, cultural applications and sensible consultations. It additionally promotes exchanges by way of cooking occasions, and just lately featured cooks from Peru and Nepal who ready their conventional dishes along with native single-person households.
The district additionally helps native companies as they enter abroad markets. In September, Cho traveled to Beijing and Shanghai with 10 small companies, the place they held greater than 150 purchaser conferences and now count on export offers value about $132 million.
“Gangnam has extra cosmetics firms than every other native district, a lot of them small corporations struggling to achieve abroad markets,” Cho mentioned. “That’s why we felt the district needed to step in.”
“We’ve expanded assist for native magnificence companies to take part in commerce festivals, serving to Gangnam attain $1.18 billion in cosmetics exports final 12 months — the very best amongst municipalities,” Cho added.
