class="apple-converted-space"> Jeollanam-do,
It is a scenic agricultural and industrial city of around 250,000 people near
Suncheon Bay. It is located in the
southeastern corner of Jeollanam-do, just over an hour south-east of
Gwangju. Forty minutes south of
Suncheon is the port city of
Yeosu,
and twenty minutes to the east of Suncheon is
Gwangyang.
It is currently experiencing strong development due to being included as part
of the
Gwangyang Bay Free
Economic Zone, one of three newly created
Free
Economic Zones
(FEZs) in South
Korea d
ue to open within the next decade. As of October
14, 2007 plans are being set up and a referendum is being planned for a merging
of the cities of
Yeosu, Suncheon
and
Gwangyang
into a new metropolitan city, taking
advantage of the Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone, Yeosu's
Expo 2012
bid and port facilities, Suncheon's
educational institutes and Gwangyang's
POSCO
plant.
