Sokcho Mayor Lee Byung-sun, fresh off a reelection victory, is going all in on beautifying the city with flowers.
"We will plant seasonal flowers throughout Sokcho — South Korea's top tourism destination — and at Cheongcho Lake Park, the province's most visited tourist attraction, to create a more vibrant and lively city where residents can enjoy flowers in their daily lives," Lee said Monday.
The city has produced about 280,000 summer flower seedlings across eight varieties, including angelonia, sown last month and currently being raised at the Nohak-dong flower nursery. The plants are set to be installed at 33 locations across the city center, including Sokcho Plaza, starting at the end of June.
Summer flower replacement work at the seasonal flower beds around the fountain plaza at Cheongcho Lake Park — one of the city's most frequented public spaces — and in planters along Seorak Rodeo Street is set to begin Monday. The work will offer residents and tourists a colorful array of sights and activities.
The seasonal flower beds at Cheongcho Lake Park are part of the city's "Four Seasons Flower Sokcho" project, launched in March to cover roadside flower beds and major tourist sites with blooms year-round. The beds are equipped with nighttime landscape lighting, allowing visitors to enjoy both the flowers and the evening scenery.
Vacant and dilapidated properties, however, are turning into crime-prone areas as the city lacks the budget to demolish them, raising calls for prompt action.
fob140@heraldcorp.com
