(Wonju=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Jae-hyun = The 30th National Farmers' Day Ceremony will be held in Wonju on November 11.
Wonju Mayor Won Gang-su stated in a press briefing on the 1st, "It is a very symbolic and meaningful decision that the National Ceremony for Farmers' Day is being held in Wonju, the birthplace of the holiday."
He continued, "The confirmation of this ceremony is a reflection of the historical significance and the necessity of the event that Wonju City has been emphasizing all along. We will thoroughly prepare so that the National Ceremony for Farmers' Day can become a successful national event that everyone participates in."
He also vowed, "We will not remain confined to achievements in the agricultural sector alone, but will vigorously advance as a central hub for all industries."
The date of November 11 for Farmers' Day was chosen because the Chinese character for ten (十) plus the character for one (一) equals the character for soil (土).
It embodies the meaning of being born from the soil, living in the soil, and returning to the soil.
The initial origin of Farmers' Day is in Wonju.
The origin dates back to 1964 when the Nongsa Improvement Club (now the Wonju Rural Leaders Association) in Wonseong County, Gangwon Province, held the "1st Wonseong County Farmers' Day" at the Wonseong County Farmers' Association building at 11 AM on November 11, based on the "Three Soils Philosophy" that "people are born from the soil, live in the soil, and return to the soil."
The city continuously proposed to the government from 1980 to 1995 to designate it as a legal memorial day, and played a very important role in the designation of Farmers' Day as a national memorial day in 1996.
jlee@yna.co.kr