Culture ministry honors 23 tourism figures at 53rd Tourism Day ceremony

The culture ministry awarded government honors to 23 people who have contributed to the tourism industry, at a ceremony on Wednesday marking the 53rd Tourism Day.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Association of Travel Agents held the event under the theme "Tourism that revives regions, tourism that grows Korea," with Minister Choe Hwi-young on hand to recognize the recipients. The honors comprise four medals, two industrial decorations, six presidential citations and 11 prime ministerial citations, along with 80 ministerial citations.

Kim Nam-cheol, vice president and general manager of the Hilton Gyeongju, operated by Wooyang Industrial Development, received the Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit. He has worked in the hotel business for more than 50 years since 1975, handling protocol for state events including those of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and has hired 529 young people from the region while training 975 hotel industry workers.

Kim Ok-hee, the head of Jingwansa temple under the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, received the Order of Civil Merit, Dongbaek Medal, for popularizing temple food as a master of the cuisine and for supporting state events, including APEC gatherings.

Kim Chun-chu, chief executive of Kims M&T, was awarded the Iron Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit. He has run an inbound travel agency since 1991, bringing in more than 400,000 foreign visitors and earning $100 million in foreign currency, and has developed his own tour product sales system. Chung Hyung-pil, a department head at Kintex, received the Stone Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit for securing the right to operate India's state-run Yashobhoomi exhibition center, the first such overseas contract for a Korean convention center, and for attracting more than 200 international events a year.

Industry decorations went to Park Sang-won, chief executive of Four You Communications, who has run a MICE company in Busan for 22 years and managed some 500 international events including the World Anti-Doping Agency general assembly, and to Lee Sang-yun, a director at Oedo Botania, who developed the island into a destination drawing 1 million visitors a year, generating about 100 billion won ($73.6 million) in added value and some 600 jobs.

"I express deep gratitude to the tourism workers who made today's 'K-tourism,' which is breaking records day after day," Minister Choe said. "The tomorrow of K-tourism is about becoming a country you must visit, beyond one you simply want to see once, and one you want to return to after a first visit."

He added that the government will not spare investment and support for the tourism industry in order to build what he called an irreplaceable K-tourism future.