Eumseong County

Eumseong

음성군
Eumseong 음성군
County
Korean transcription(s)
• Hangul	음성군
• Hanja	陰城郡
• Revised Romanization	Eumseong-gun
• McCune-Reischauer	Ŭmsŏng-gun
	Flag
	Location in South Korea
Country	South Korea
Region	Hoseo
Administrative divisions	2 eup, 7 myeon
Area
• Total	521.05 km2 (201.18 sq mi)
Population (05/2012)
• Total	97,211
• Density	69/km2 (180/sq mi)
• Dialect	Chungcheong

Eumseong County (Eumseong-gun) is a county in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea, best known for being the birthplace of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Eumseong Clean Peppers Festival is held in Eumseong-gun, Chungbuk every September. It has been held since 1982. It is held along with the Seolseong Cultural Festival. Events such as chili pepper fairy, Mr. chili pepper contest, fireworks, and county people's singing contest will be held together with events such as masquerade, torch relay, demonstration event, folk game, and athletic competition. Since 2009, the Eumseong Clean Pepper Lady Contest has been held instead of the Red Pepper Fairy Contest.

History[]

Eumseong County is composed of two towns (eup) and seven townships (myeon), with a total population of 98,619 people (including foreigners) as of March 31, 2013.^[1] The most central town is Geumwang (which also goes by the name Muguk).

Town/township	Hangul	Hanja	Area (km²)	Households	Population
Eumseong-eup	음성읍	陰城邑	86	7,814	19,002
Geumwang-eup	금왕읍	金旺邑	71	8,839	22,602
Soi-myeon	소이면	蘇伊面	49	1,545	3,302
Weonnam-myeon	원남면	遠南面	65	1,548	3,286
Maengdong-myeon	맹동면	孟洞面	35	1,676	5,604
Daeso-myeon	대소면	大所面	38	7,192	18,731
Samseong-myeon	삼성면	三成面	51	3,902	9,410
Saenggeuk-myeon	생극면	笙極面	56	2,228	5,252
Gamgok-myeon	감곡면	甘谷面	69	5,002	11,430
Total			520	39,746	98,619

Many farmers live in Eumseong County. They host two cultural festivals: the Pumba (traditional vagabond) Festival (품바축제) in the spring and the Gochu (chili pepper) Festival (고추축제) in the fall. Eumseong is famous in Korea for its production of high-quality red chili peppers. Eumseong is also renowned for its strawberries, ginseng, watermelon, and beef.^{[citation needed]}

Eumseong County is home to three different high schools. Eumseong High School is located in the city of Eumseong, Chungbuk Semi-Conductor High School is located in Geumwang, and Maegoe High School is located in Gamgok. Maegoe is a Catholic all girls middle school as well as a mixed gender high school located at the base of a steep sided hill under a Christ-shaped statue. In addition, , an English-speaking Christian boarding school, is located in the city of Eumseong.

There are two institutes of higher education in Eumseong county that are both located in the township Gamgok - Far East University and Gangdong College.^[2] Far East University is a four-year school while Gangdong College has only a two-year program. As of 2013, 20 to 30 foreign live in Eumseong County, who are from countries including the United States of America, Canada, South Africa, England, and Scotland.^{[citation needed]}

The name "Eumseong" means "shaded castle" and is not to be confused with its homonym "human voice".^[3]

In 1956, Eumseong's status was promoted from township to town. In 1973, Geumwang's status was also promoted to that of a town.^[4]

Samseong[]

Samseong is located in the northwest of Eumseong County, just east of the Jungbu Expressway. The township's bus terminal has connections to Dong Seoul station that take about 1.5 hours as well as connections to other provincial cities and towns.

Samseong has a middle school, an elementary school and several private academies or hagwons. The township is arranged principally around one street, which comprises a covered market, CU, 7 Eleven, Paris Baguette, and many Korean restaurants and hofs.

There are rice paddies between the various factories. In addition there are two sizeable lakes and a mountain named Mai San which is excellent for hiking.

Known for spotting wildlife, Samseong was formerly a prime location for encountering species now thought to be endangered.