Chungnam Governor Park Soo-hyun visited islands in the Taean and Boryeong regions consecutively to inspect the current status of port development projects and preparations for the Island Biennale.

Governor Park visited Gyeolnyeolbiyeoldo in Taean and Godae-do and Wonsan-do in Boryeong in turn on the 10th.

Located 55 km west of Anheung Port in Taean, Gyeolnyeolbiyeoldo was named because the islands look like birds flying in a row, consisting of three islands—North, West, and East—along with affiliated islets.

Its total area is 514,603 square meters, which is about 2.7 times wider than Dokdo (187,554 square meters).

On Bukgyeolnyeolbi-do, which Governor Park visited, a manned lighthouse where four workers work in two-person shifts for 15 days each and a West Sea comprehensive meteorological observation facility have been installed.

This island was designated as Gyeolnyeolbiyeoldo Port, a state-managed coastal port, in July 2022, and was finally announced in the port master plan in September of last year.

Gyeolnyeolbiyeoldo Port is currently promoting basic and detailed design services, and development is planned to be completed by 2030.

The province expects that once this port is completed, it will serve as a base port for defending national territory, secure ship safety including emergency sheltering, and enable a prompt response to illegal fishing by Chinese vessels by shortening the dispatch distance for the Coast Guard and fisheries guidance vessels.

Governor Park listened to the current status of Gyeolnyeolbiyeoldo, including the progress of port construction, and encouraged the manned lighthouse workers.

Located at the westernmost tip of the central West Sea, Seogyeolnyeolbiyeoldo serves as a territorial baseline that determines the range of South Korea's territorial waters (12 nautical miles) and exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles, EEZ).

At Godae-do, visited after Gyeolnyeolbiyeoldo, Governor Park received a report on the preparation status of the Island Biennale and urged thorough preparation for the event so that Chungnam's islands can be turned into new landmarks of South Korea to inject vitality into the local economy.

Hosted by the province and Boryeong City and organized by the Island Biennale Organizing Committee, the Island Biennale will be held in the areas of Wonsan-do and Godae-do for two months from April 3 to May 30 next year under the theme of "Moving Island: Beyond the Horizon of Events."

The total number of participating artists is 70 (teams) from 24 countries, including about 30 domestic artists such as Choi Pyung-gon, Kim In-jung, and Kim Eok-jung from Chungnam, and about 30 foreign artists such as Roelof Schrier (Netherlands) and Atelier JAK (Germany, South Korean-German duo).

These artists will present 80 works of sculpture, installation, painting, media, and performance at the main exhibition hall, Wonsan-do Island Culture and Arts Platform, empty houses and idle spaces on Wonsan-do and Godae-do, white sand beaches, and coastal roads.

At Godae-do, Governor Park also visited the Marine Culture Experience Center and the Karl Gützlaff Memorial Park to check the exhibition plans for the Island Biennale, and heard a maintenance project plan for the memorial park from Boryeong City.

Finally, at Wonsan-do, where he moved next, he visited the Island Culture and Arts Platform to inspect the construction progress and major exhibition plans.

The Island Culture and Arts Platform has a site area of 9,886 square meters and a total floor area of 3,989 square meters, and is spurring final construction with the goal of completion by the end of this year.

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