Another article about the "Global Village Centers" in Seoul.

The Joongang Ilbo has an article about the six "Global Village Centers" in Seoul.

The centers provide a range of services, from business advice to information about daily living and cultural exchanges, as well as support for migrant workers.

The centers can also help with administrative services involving confusing paperwork such as foreigner registration and local tax payments. They also provide useful information about facilities, employment and health care.

I found the following map on the official site.



Besides the six global villages, there are five "Global Culture Zones" and four "Global Business Zones," the effect of all fifteen will, it is hoped, help Seoul rank as one of the world's top ten cities by 2010.

Seoul's ranking in globalization in comparison to other Asian countries was rather low, according to a survey by the city government.

It assessed that Korea ranked 29th in the globalization index in 2006 when Hong Kong ranked 10th and Japan was 15th, city officials said. In a survey on business environment, Korea was placed 26th whereas Singapore was 3rd and Hong Kong was ranked 9th, officials said.

In another survey on attitudes toward foreigners, Seoul received 2 points on a scale of 10, whereas Hong Kong received 4.33 points and Singapore rated 4.5 points, city officials said. The use of English in public service was given worse scores, with Seoul getting 1.8 points compared to Hong Kong with 4.56 points and Singapore with 5 points, said officials, on a scale of 1-5.

I'm not sure exactly how they're related but we learned earlier in the year that Seoul designated foreignervilles, with three American towns, a Japantown, a Francetown, and a Chinatown, the locations corresponding to those on the above map. The official site talks about the designation of certain streets, but in my quick look around I didn't see anything talking about towns. Say, I wonder if they overstated things a bit before everything was finished. *cough*

- Seorae Road (500m) in Seorae Village will be made into a French-style street that reflects different aspects of the French culture.
The basic plan will be prepared by 2H/08, and the project will be implemented starting in 2009. - Mannam Road (470m) in Yeonnam-dong will be made into the Chinese Culture Street as a part of the China Town Project.

- Also, detailed designing works for the “Streets We Want to Walk” Project run by Yeoksam-dong and Gangnam-gu will incorporate the essence of the globalization project.

- Itaeweon-dong will be made the Global Cultural Exchange Zone, and the Specified Streets will be created to attract more foreign visitors.

Our fair city of Suncheon ranks among the top ten communities in South Korea, and likely has a very high globalization index given that it announced "SUNCHEON IS NOTED FOR ITS PROGRAM OF CULTURAL ACTIVITIES FOR FOREIGNERS."

The reason, the town of Suncheon stands out among foreigners is that it is possible to experience Korean culture in different ways with little time and Suncheon Bay, is the first sandbar of be selected as the site picturesque Songgwangsa and Seonamsa where you can admire the history of Korean Buddhism and Nagan-eubseong where people still live in preserving all that was past.

On the one hand, the city strives to leave a good impression by posting interpreters of English, Japanese, Chinese etc. for foreign tourists whose number increases gradually.

So you can keep your Itaewon.