[INTERVIEW] Uijeongbu seeks to become mecca for fashion with upcoming festival

Uijeongbu Mayor Kim Dong-geun speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at Uijeongbu City Hall in Gyeonggi Province, Sept. 5. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Gyeonggi Province city to host Asian Model Festival Oct. 1-16

By Dong Sun-hwa

For a long time, Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul, was dubbed a "military town."

It hosted the U.S. military for seven decades since the 1950-53 Korean War, before all troops moved to the seaport city of Pyeongtaek in southern Gyeonggi Province where Camp Humphreys ― the largest U.S. overseas military base ― is located. So numerous people still associate Uijeongbu with the military, without knowing about its hidden aspects.

To change this perception, Uijeongbu Mayor Kim Dong-geun has pulled out a trump card: hosting the 17th Asian Model Festival (AMF) in his city. Aspiring models from 25 Asian countries will head to Uijeongbu on Oct. 1 and take part in various events including: "Face of ASIA" (Oct. 14), "Asia OPEN Collection" (Oct. 15) and the "Asia Model Awards" (Oct. 16).

Face of ASIA is a competition among model hopefuls who finished their local preliminaries, while Asia OPEN Collection is a festival promoting the interactions among fashion industry insiders and Uijeongbu residents. The Asia Model Awards is an awards ceremony honoring the best models in Asia, which will invite high-profile K-pop stars as performers and foreign ambassadors to Korea as guests.

Model Jin Tae-ri poses on the runway during the 2021 Asia Model Festival that took place at the Seoul Trade Exhibition & Convention in December. Courtesy of Asia Model Festival Organizing Committee

According to Kim, the ultimate goal of organizing such an event is to transform Uijeongbu into a fashion and beauty mecca in Asia.

"Uijeongbu has hosted a series of beauty festivals over the past few years and it is home to Choi Young-hee of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), Korea's first-ever hair dresser-turned-lawmaker," the mayor said during an interview with The Korea Times at the City Hall, Sept. 5. "Uijeongbu is also close to Pocheon and Yangju ― cities filled with furniture and textile factories ― as well as Incheon International Airport and Seoul. With these merits, we believe we can get a new identity as a fashion and beauty hub, instead of being recognized as a 'military town.'"

One of his most ambitious projects is to build a "design cluster" on the 660,000-square-meter site that the U.S. military returned to the city. According to Kim, after the return was completed in February, Uijeongbu has been working with different experts to set up a design cluster on the site, which is where Camp Red Cloud was previously located.

"The U.S. military was based in Uijeongbu for more than 70 years," Kim explained. "The buildings they used are still here, so if we establish a new design cluster without destroying them, we will be able to turn the site into a cultural space with unique stories that can draw people in the fashion and beauty industry."

Although the return of some other parcels of land has not been confirmed, Kim and his officials will continue to demand their return, he added.

"We are considering acquiring all of them and I think the administrative process will take about two to three years," the mayor said. "Once we have them, we will fix the environmental damage there, so that we can develop them in a way we want. We might seek ways to attract the leading companies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to this zone."

The 2020 Face of ASIA was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Courtesy of Asia Model Festival Organizing Committee

Kim also plans to hold Uijeongbu's flagship festivals like the "Hoeryong Cultural Festival" and "Haengbokro Festival" at the time of the upcoming AMF.

"Then, our citizens can enjoy a variety of cultural activities all at once and Asian models can explore the history and beauty of our city," he said. "Uijeongbu people will also get the chance to walk the runway with the contenders of the AMF and some senior models from Kyungmin University and Shinhan University, which have fashion modeling majors. They will also be able to try nail art and different makeup, among others."

Kim, the former deputy mayor of Suwon in Gyeonggi Province, underscored that he would try to attract as many businesses as possible for Uijeongbu, which does not have any of the headquarters of big conglomerates yet.

"We will have a briefing session to let companies know about our potential and try to bring them here, so that young people in our city do not have to head to Seoul to land a job," he noted. "We will also help small- and mid-sized companies in Uijeongbu go global by highlighting their competitive edges."

Uijeongbu Mayor Kim Dong-geun during an interview with The Korea Times at Uijeongbu City Hall in Gyeonggi Province, Sept. 5 / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Kim, however, did meet opposition from some citizens when he first announced his plan to organize the AMF, as they did not understand why the city needs to invest hundreds of millions of won into this project. Some of them are still in doubt, Kim said.

"To date, Uijeongbu has not hosted a lot of international festivals like the AMF, so many of our citizens are still uncertain about the possible fruits it can bear," he revealed. "And I became a mayor only two months ago, so I did not have much time to prepare for the event as well. I was supposed to spend more time to get as many people as possible involved in a project like this, but could not do so. But I will try my best to make it successful, so that Uijeongbu can take a further leap in the cultural field and draw more visitors and companies."

Participants of the 2019 Asia Model Awards ceremony pose at Olympic Hall in southern Seoul. Courtesy of Asia Model Festival Organizing Committee

Kim also stressed that he wants to redefine what a model is.

"The AFM is not just a beauty contest, but a platform where models can grasp opportunities to get professional jobs," he said, adding that the winners of the upcoming competition will become Uijeongbu's promotional ambassadors. "From my perspective, models can offer a glimpse into a country's fashion and beauty industry, showing people the level of their development and maturity."