Icheon (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Together with Yeoju, Icheon is known as a center of South Korean ceramic manufacturing and is a UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art. Other famous local products include peaches and rice. Local institutions of higher learning include Korea Tourism College and Chungkang College of Cultural Industries. The city is also home to SK Hynix, the world's second largest memory chip maker.
Geography Neighboring districts include Yeoju, Gwangju, Yongin, and Anseong within Gyeonggi Province, as well as Eumseong County in North Chungcheong Province.
The Yeongdong Expressway and Jungbu Naeryuk Expressway pass through Icheon. In 2016, the city will connect into the Seoul Metropolitan Subway via Yeoju Line's Icheon Station.
Administrative divisions Icheon is divided into 2 towns (eup), 8 townships (myeon), and 4 neighbourhoods (dong). HangulHanjaJanghowon-eup장호원읍 長湖院邑Bubal-eup부발읍 夫鉢邑Sindun-myeon신둔면 新屯面Baeksa-myeon백사면 栢沙面Hobeop-myeon호법면 戶法面Majang-myeon마장면 麻長面Daewol-myeon대월면 大月面Moga-myeon모가면 暮加面Seolseong-myeon설성면 雪星面Yul-myeon율면 栗面Changjeon-dong창전동 倉前洞Jeungpo-dong증포동 增浦洞Jungni-dong중리동 中里洞Gwango-dong관고동 官庫洞
Population and Business There are 230,000 people living, including about 220,000 Koreans and 11,000 foreigners. More than 1,200 companies employ about 40,000 people.
Climate Icheon has a humid continental climate (Dwa in the Köppen climate classification).
City symbols City bird: Magpie City flower: Azaleas City tree: Pine
Ceramic village
The Icheon Ceramics Village features 300-plus ceramics-making firms in the area of Sugwang-ri, Sindun-myeon, Saeum-dong, and a popular visitor attraction. They use traditional skills and produce porcelains in some 40 traditional firewood kilns. This pottery is recognized both at home and abroad for its quality.
The Saeum-dong and Sindun-myeon areas also include a ceramics village with many ceramics stores. Potters have researched traditional methods and revived the manufacture of ceramics in the style of Goryeo celadon and Joseon white porcelain here. The village is the center of the effort to preserve these traditions.Official pages of Icheon city
UNESCO Icheon was designated as a UNESCO Creative City for Crafts and Folk Art, in 2010. In 2018, the city was elected as the first designated city for Craft and Folk Art among South Korea's creative cities. It served as the designated city until September 2021.
Education University
Korea Tourism College Chungkang College of Cultural Industries
Fires Major building fires occurred on 7 January 2008 and on 29 April 2020.
Twin towns – sister cities
Icheon is twinned with:
Jingdezhen, China (1997) Kōka, Japan (2005)
Santa Fe, United States (2013) Seto, Japan (2006) Wuxi, China (2005) Limoges, France (2015) Santa Clara, United States (2019)
Notable people Sŏ Hŭi: The historic figure of Goryeo dynasty who made a huge decision with Khitan people who was forcefully occupying northern areas of Korean peninsula. Kang Mi-na: South Korean singer, rapper, dancer, actress and K-pop idol, former member of K-pop girlgroup Gugudan and its subunits Gugudan 5959 and Gugudan SeMiNa. Choi Jeong: Baseball player who played for SK Wyverns/SSG Landers and South Korea national baseball team Kim Se-yong: ceramist. Chun Woo-hee: South Korean actress.
See also Korean pottery Geography of South Korea List of cities in South Korea
References
External links
Icheon : Official Seoul City Tourism City Council website