Park Hung-seok: "Will Actively Foster Suwon-type MICE Industry"

Park Hung-seok, a Saenuri Party preliminary candidate for Suwon mayor, announced on the 9th that he will "actively promote the MICE industry (Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, Exhibitions), known as a 'smokeless golden industry,' as a labor-intensive, high-quality job creation sector that brings together large numbers of domestic and international participants in industrial exhibitions, international conferences, tourism, and academic conferences."

Through a press release that day, the preliminary candidate announced a "Concentrated Development Plan for Suwon-type MICE Industry" and stated, "As a measure to revitalize and develop the Suwon economy, I will push forward the MICE industry as a competitive industry for Suwon and make efforts in job creation and economic revitalization."

The Suwon MICE industry that the preliminary candidate is planning will be built in the format of a multipurpose convention center similar to Goyang's Kintex and will be equipped with a scale of 25,000 square meters in the western region of the relatively underdeveloped Gwonseon-gu area of Suwon. Accommodations and transportation infrastructure for convenience enhancement will also be promoted in parallel.

Regarding this, the preliminary candidate stated, "By integrating Suwon's culture, history, tradition, state-of-the-art industrial environment, sports facilities such as golf courses in nearby areas, and attractions such as Everland and the Korean Folk Village, I will develop it into Suwon's future leading industry through enhanced educational competitiveness and provision of sports and medical facilities."

The MICE industry refers to sectors encompassing Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, and Exhibitions, which the government has also selected as a new growth engine industry and is actively promoting.