Alameda and Yeongdong-gun, South Korea, to be sister cities
By Peter Hegarty
phegarty@bayareanewsgroup.com
ALAMEDA » A city in South Korea looks set to become Alameda’s newest sister city, a move that follows the mayors of both cities meeting in the Philippines and pledging to build closer ties.
Yeongdong-gun is located in the mountainous Chungcheongbuk-do region of South Korea and in one of the country’s largest wine producing regions. The city is also home to the No Gun Ri Peace Park, which commemorates the No Gun Ri massacre during the Korean War when an undetermined number of South Korean refugees were killed by U.S. forces.
A ceremony to formally recognize the sister city relationship is set for 10 a.m. Monday in the council chambers at City Hall.
Developing a sister-city relationship with Yeongdong- gun will allow Alameda residents to support humanitarian and peace programs in South Korea, plus it will provide opportunities for interaction among those working in the wine industry, including at Spirits Alley at Alameda Point, local officials say.
The City Council voted June 20 to authorize Mayor Trish Spencer to begin implementing the special relationship with Yeongdonggun. The resolution was passed unanimously and without discussion.
Alameda and Yeongdong- gun are sister cities with Dumaguete in the Philippines, and Spencer met with Park Se-bok, the mayor of the South Korean city, during an official visit in November 2015.
The meeting led Spencer to visit Yeongdong-gun in October 2016 and for a representative of that city’s wine cooperative to join Alameda officials for a tour of businesses at Spirits Alley in February of this year.
That same month the Alameda Sister Cities Association, a nonprofit organization that recommends potential sister cities, proposed Yeongdong-gun for the relationship.
A Yeongdong-gun delegation is scheduled to visit Alameda through Wednesday. Contact Peter Hegarty at 510-748-1654.
