Jinhae-gu

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Jinhae-gu
진해구
Non-autonomous District
Korean transcription(s)
 • Hangul 진해구
 • Hanja 鎭海區
 • Revised Romanization Jinhae-gu
 • McCune-Reischauer Chinhae-gu
Cityscape of downtown Jinhae, from Jehehwangsan Park

Emblem of Jinhae
Country  South Korea
Region Yeongnam
Administrative divisions 15 dong
Area
 • Total 120.19 km2 (46.41 sq mi)
Population (2010)
 • Total 172,000
 • Density 1,431.07/km2 (3,706.5/sq mi)
 • Dialect Gyeongsang

Jinhae-gu (formerly known as Chinhae) is a district in Changwon City, South Korea. This region is served by the Korean National Railroad, and is famous for its annual cherry blossom festival every spring.

The city front is on a sheltered, island-studded bay, and is almost completely surrounded by mountains covered with pine trees.

The emblem of Jinhae contains a cherry blossom.

History

Jinhae was developed as a naval base (Chinkai Naval Station) of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Japanese occupation period in the early 20th century.

In December 2009, the city council approved a proposal to merge with Changwon and Masan, to form a yet-to-be-named city of over one million people. The city councils of the other two cities have also approved the merger, which would bring national funds to the metropolis through an existing law to aid cities of over one million population. The Provincial Council of South Gyeongsang Province must approve the merger. A decision is expected in the penultimate week of December.[1]

Jinhae Gunhang Festival on April

Economy

The city is primarily supported by the Korean Naval personnel and their families or people working for the Republic of Korea Navy shipyard and base facilities. Today, Jinhae hosts major naval facilities of the South Korean Navy including Commander-in-Chief Republic of Korea Fleet (CINCROKFLT) and the Naval Academy.

Jinhae is part of a large urban corridor that links the adjacent cities of Masan and Changwon. These three cities merged as one in 2010. Hence the name "Jinhae-gu" instead of "Jinhae-si".

Moreover, the city is also host to the only US Naval base in Korea, US Naval Fleet Activities, Chinhae.

Cherry Blossom Festival (Gunhangje)

Each spring the city hosts a ten day festival, variously promoted as the Military Parade Festival or the Cherry Blossom Festival. Each spring over a million Koreans and other visitors crowd into the town to view the cherry blossoms and to see the street performers, carnival stalls and street lighting as well as the military parades which commemorate the victory of Admiral Yi Sun Shin over a Japanese invasion attempt[2]

Sister cities

See also

References

  1. ↑ Cho Ji-hyun, "Three Cities in the South Go for Integration," the Korea Herald, December 12, 2009, pp. 1 and 4.
  2. ↑ See official festival site accessed 10th April 2013 See also pamphlet 'The 51 Jinhae Gunhangje Pamphlet' Changwon, Festival Committee of Gunhanje, 2013.

External links 

Official Cherry Blossom Festival page (Gunghangje)

Coordinates: 35°09′N 128°40′E / 35.150°N 128.667°E / 35.150; 128.667

Changwon (capital)
Cities
Counties
Districts of Changwon
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