Asan is a medium-sized city located in Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, with a population of 390,000. It boasts beautiful natural scenery adjacent to the West Sea and is an industrially developed area with major companies such as Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics. The city has excellent transportation networks, including KTX, SRT, and highways, providing easy access to Seoul and nearby cities.

Asan is famous as a hot spring city, offering numerous hot spring facilities that provide visitors with a relaxing and healing experience. The city aims to create an art valley where art and culture harmonise, regularly hosting various art exhibitions and events. To encourage citizen participation in the arts, a variety of cultural activities are being organised to expand artistic sensibilities.

Additionally, Asan has grown into a multicultural city where people from diverse cultural backgrounds live together, providing an environment where different cultures and traditions coexist. This environment offers citizens opportunities to participate in various cultural events and programmes, fostering understanding and respect among them.

Asan is an attractive city that combines industry, culture, and nature, offering rich experiences and opportunities. It is particularly known as a destination where many tourists come to enjoy hot springs and nature.

Asan has the highest percentage of foreign residents in the South Chungcheong Province, accounting for approximately 9.3% of its total population. The foreign residents in Asan primarily come from diverse countries such as China, Vietnam, Russia, and Uzbekistan, contributing to the city’s multicultural character.

Since joining the National Multicultural City Council in 2012, Asan has actively developed and shared multicultural policies, supported multicultural families, and promoted social integration. The Asan Family Center offers various tailored programs to help foreign residents settle in, including Korean language education, after-school classes, self-help groups, translation services, and employment and entrepreneurship support. Additionally, it operates branches in Duneunpo and Sinchang-myeon to enhance accessibility.

Starting in 2023, the city fully subsidises childcare fees for foreign children, ensuring that they receive the same level of care as local children, which exemplifies Asan’s inclusivity and fairness. Furthermore, Asan has established sister city relationships with four countries, fostering active international exchanges in the fields of economy, education, culture, and tourism to promote regional development and global cooperation.

These efforts significantly contribute to Asan’s growth as a multicultural city, enhancing social integration and development. Asan is committed to solidifying its role as a city where diverse cultures coexist.