Had I known the light will be so strong on me
I would have put some make up on
Nice to meet you everyone
I’m pretty sure most of you would know me
I’m the mayor of Daejeon, Yeom Hong Cheol
Today, I’m honored to be invited at TEDxDaejeon, a feast of knowledge
Congratulations to this forum today
Firstly, I will start with something serious
We say that Daejeon is the new center city of Korea
Then what’s the difference between an old center and a new center?
The word “new” makes a significant difference
You can think of Seoul and the metropolitan area as an old center
The old center is all about centralization and monopoly
Population, knowledge, industry, and power, everything was centered in Seoul in the past
But the new center we are aiming at is about integration
Not centralization, but integration
Centralization is very exclusive since there’s no connectivity among components
However, the new center we are aiming at is integration;
hence, components make cluster and urge profits through connectivity
Therefore, it’s not exclusive, but it include other areas
And center means gathering things in the middle
So it’s very static
However, the true center we are looking for is more like hub
There must be input to be a hub, but also hub spreads things out wide
So we say, it’s not center, but hub
For example, a center airport means just to arrive at destinations
But if it’s a hub airport
it also means going to somewhere and then coming back
in someway, it means quite innovative
Lastly, when I talk about my city, Daejeon
I say it’s the center, so people tell me that it’s a geologically center
But when I say it’s a center, it’s not only because of its geological factor
but because we are trying to make it as a new center of the country
in terms of new public policy and becoming a role model for other cities
And there are many people who actually migrated into this city from other cities
So some say it’s for wanderers, but it isn’t
Just like New York city
people come to Daejeon and mix together as a melting pot
so some say that NYC doesn’t have its own identity
but newyorkers are the ones who love their city the most
They even write I love NYC on their shirts
Today, I want to explain what Daejeon is aiming at
by each meanings of Technology, Entertainment, and Design
Technology, of course
Every Korean would know that Daejeon is a city of science and technology
There are around 30 private lavatories, and 30 government funded lavatories
All the leading lavatories are integrated in Daejeon
and 40 years ago, the government invested 4trillion won
And Daejeon generated over 40 trillion won as a heart of Korean technology
playing its role as an engine of national economic growth
There’s no doubt about it
There are many technologies Daejeon is on top of the world
Cell phones we carry around, the Qualcomm has the original technology
but researchers in Daejeon have made it popular generating billions of economic growth
Recently, the ETRI announced development
of the 4G technology the first in the world
Like this, Daejeon is offering better and more convenient lives to people of the world
Therefore, it’s rather natural to relate Daejeon to technology
I’m sure you’d all agree
And there are political conflicts recently
but I think Daejeon of course deserves what it’s supposed to get
Secondly, E stands for entertainment
Entertainment is to be interpreted with a larger view
and I think it’s based on culture and arts
So I want to talk about the ‘E’ with culture and arts
I want Daejeon to be more like New York than Washington D.C.,
and more like Munich, rather than Berlin
I had a chance to study in New York 30 years ago
and I learned many things and surprised many times
There are music concerts in Central Park during summer times
Then many people come and gathered around
with sandwiches and coke waiting for a concert
Then opera singers of the New York Metropolitan or symphony orchestra perform
I’m not sure if he had been a mayor or a government official
but somebody from the city hall gave a small speech like this:
“You, newyorkers pay tax the most in America
So I want to give you, the largest tax payers, a gift, the best performance.”
Then the New York citizens went crazy and looked very happy
I thought of a watercolor of Monet when I saw such scene
Then 13 years after that, I became a designated mayor of Daejeon
As imitation teaches creation, I imitated the concert of New York
So, at the Seo-Daejeon Park, and the Sa-Jeong Park
the art groups of Daejeon hold a music concert
It was very high-class, hadn’t it been for free,
people would have paid quite much of money for it
It was right after hosting the Expo successfully
when I gave a small speech to the citizens, I imitated the New York’s one
I said, “ I thought what to give to citizens of Daejeon
as a gift for hosting the Expo so successfully,
and I decided to give you the best music concert.” People loved it
Since then, with the city philharmonic orchestra
we’ve been maintaining high level of culture in this city
At the Hall of Art, New York Philharmonic and many other world class orchestra came
and gave great concerts
People from not only Daejeon, but also from Jeonju and Cheongju came
to enjoy such cultural events
That’s why I think Daejeon is deeply relevant to the E, entertainment
Some people say that
Daejeon has a very short history of culture and it’s a desert of culture
but that’s not true
Since the Chosun Empire
scholars like Song Siyeol, and Song Jungil made Daejeon
as a center of Korean traditional study
Not the Chungcheong province, but Daejeon was
Centered on Gapcheon
Daejeon has been the center of Korean traditional study
Therefore, Daejeon has a very long and deep root as a cultural city
Lastly, it’s design
I want to see it from a broader view
I think, design can be done by hands artificially
but we can design through nature, too
And I believe that Daejeon has such a beautiful and natural nature
I’d like to call it a design, too
So, Daejeon is one of the cities which has the best environment in Korea
Recently, KyungHyang newspaper surveyed
sustainability of 16 cities with many labs involved
They announced the result, and Daejeon topped the list
And Seoul came second with a huge gap between
You might see the article on the screen behind
So, Daejeon has the highest sustainability
especially, it got the highest score from the environment sector
And then fame
Its fame as a city of science was an important factor, too
Overall, Daejeon was the best city
However, Daejeon came only at 13th in economy sector
And we can get an answer from it
The identity of Daejeon is its environment and science
Using these two
Achieving economic growth is out goal and identity at the same time
How beautiful the nature is in Daejeon
You may not notice it
but Daejeon is surrounded by mountains
and we made 12 walking courses which reaches 133 kilo meters
Many people go for the Ol-leh road in Jeju island
but the origin of this Ol-leh road is Dul-leh road of Daejeon
It’s more beautiful
The Daecheong road
and Hwangto road have been selected as the most popular place
to visit by the Ministry of Tourism
And there are three beautiful rivers in Daejeon
There’s Gapcheon right over there
Here, at DCC we hosted IMF Asea Conference
and IAEA conference by Dr.Lee Gyung-su sitting right in front of me
and many world class scholars in the field came for the conference
And when the chief president of IMF, and IAEA saw the city
they were stunned by its beauty
There is a huge garden in the middle of the city
And a beautiful river, Gapcheon streaming down the city
And the Art Center, also
People were stunned by this beautiful city
Daejeon is such a beautiful city, environmentally
and that’s why I think TED and the identity of Daejeon are quite connected
So, it’s obvious that Daejeon is a city of science and technology
Secondly, it’s a city with a flourishing culture
and for third, it’s such an eco-friendly city
In conclusion, the identity of Daejeon is Eco&Science
However, what we are aiming at is an economical development
with a harmony of environment and material stuffs
Lastly, I want to suggest you something
Daejeon is working on a campaign to make it a city with no trash
I also attend the self-attending cleaning campaign regularly
The government officials working in Daejeon City Hall
also attend the cleaning campaign in turns
So we are trying to make our city with no garbage
and of course, a city without garbage must be clean
but also it lowers crime rate
There’s data to prove it
There’s a broken glass theory in America
A broken glass theory
It’s about a car with a broken glass left in Harlem
Also a normal car was left in Harlem
And after several days
the car with broken glass was all tore down and people took its parts
However, the normal one was still there all fine
This is a broken glass theory indicating that
a broken glass will cause more serious problem
This theory was introduced in Korea
and with this theory
I want to make Daejeon a city with no broken glass
By doing so, Daejeon will have better reputation
and people who visits Daejeon will have better impression of our city
Every month, when I attend the self-cleaning campaign
I post about it on my Twitter and Facebook account
People see my post and come join me
I have Cyworld, Twitter, and Facebook account
And there’s something people ask me all the time;
“Do you really do it yourself?”
People simply assume that my secretary would do
since I’m so busy
And they don’t think I’d be able to use those programs
I really do it myself
If I don’t do it myself, there’s no meaning
I talk to citizens real-time
and sometimes there’s critical opinions about me
then I reply them
It’s two-way communication of me and citizens
And I wish you don’t doubt about it and be my friends, or follow me
I made my Cyworld and Twitter account very early
but I just opened my Facebook account
It’s been less than a month, it’s been 20 days by today
but I have 1600 friends
I still have large space for you to join me
Please give me some ideas to make Daejeon a better city, a new center city
and ask me lots of questions, then I’ll answer you with my true heart
What I’ve been telling you is dream of mine, Yeom Hong-cheol, a mayor of Daejeon city
A dream one person dreams will end up just a dream
However, when people here and citizens of Daejeon dream about it together
It can be our reality
I’d like to finish my talk asking you to dream of making Daejeon as a new center city of Korea