Icheon

Icheon

이천시
Icheon 이천시
Municipal City
Korean transcription(s)
• Hangul	이천시
• Hanja	利川市
• Revised Romanization	Icheon-si
• McCune–Reischauer	Ich'ŏn-si
	Flag
	Location in South Korea
	Coordinates: 37°16′N 127°26′E / 37.267°N 127.433°E
Country	South Korea
Region	Sudogwon
Province	Gyeonggi
Administrative divisions	2 eup, 8 myeon, 4 dong
Government
• mayor	Kyung Hee Kim (김경희)
Area
• Total	461.3 km2 (178.1 sq mi)
Population (October, 2022)
• Total	224,077
• Density	485.8/km2 (1,258/sq mi)
• Dialect	Seoul
Website	icheon.go.kr

Icheon (Korean: 이천; Korean pronunciation: [i.tsʰʌn]) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

Together with Yeoju, Icheon is known as a center of South Korean ceramic manufacturing and is a UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art. Other famous local products include peaches and rice. Local institutions of higher learning include Korea Tourism College and Chungkang College of Cultural Industries.

Icheon is home to Hynix, the world's second largest memory chip maker.

Fires

Major building fires occurred on 7 January 2008 and on 29 April 2020.

Geography

Neighboring districts include Yeoju City, Gwangju City, Yongin City, and Anseong City within Gyeonggi Province, as well as Eumseong County in North Chungcheong Province.

The Yeongdong Expressway and Jungbu Naeryuk Expressway pass through Icheon. In 2016, the city will connect into the Seoul Metropolitan Subway via Yeoju Line's Icheon Station.^[1]

Administrative divisions

Icheon-si is divided into 2 towns (eup), 8 townships (myeon), and 4 neighbourhoods (dong).

	Hangul	Hanja
Janghowon-eup	장호원읍	長湖院邑
Bubal-eup	부발읍	夫鉢邑
Sindun-myeon	신둔면	新屯面
Baeksa-myeon	백사면	栢沙面
Hobeop-myeon	호법면	戶法面
Majang-myeon	마장면	麻長面
Daewol-myeon	대월면	大月面
Moga-myeon	모가면	暮加面
Seolseong-myeon	설성면	雪星面
Yul-myeon	율면	栗面
Changjeon-dong	창전동	倉前洞
Jeungpo-dong	증포동	增浦洞
Jungni-dong	중리동	中里洞
Gwango-dong	관고동	官庫洞

Population and Business

There are 230,000 people living, including about 220,000 Koreans and 11,000 foreigners. More than 1,200 companies employ about 40,000 people.^[2]

Climate

Icheon has a humid continental climate (Dwa in the Köppen climate classification).

Climate data for Icheon (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1972–present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	14.5 (58.1)	20.8 (69.4)	24.8 (76.6)	32.5 (90.5)	33.7 (92.7)	36.0 (96.8)	38.3 (100.9)	39.4 (102.9)	32.9 (91.2)	29.1 (84.4)	25.4 (77.7)	18.2 (64.8)	39.4 (102.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	2.7 (36.9)	6.0 (42.8)	12.2 (54.0)	19.3 (66.7)	24.4 (75.9)	27.9 (82.2)	29.4 (84.9)	30.2 (86.4)	26.0 (78.8)	20.4 (68.7)	12.1 (53.8)	4.4 (39.9)	17.9 (64.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−3.1 (26.4)	−0.3 (31.5)	5.4 (41.7)	11.9 (53.4)	17.6 (63.7)	22.0 (71.6)	24.7 (76.5)	25.0 (77.0)	19.8 (67.6)	13.0 (55.4)	5.8 (42.4)	−1.2 (29.8)	11.7 (53.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−8.5 (16.7)	−6.1 (21.0)	−0.9 (30.4)	5.0 (41.0)	11.2 (52.2)	16.7 (62.1)	20.9 (69.6)	21.1 (70.0)	15.0 (59.0)	7.0 (44.6)	0.2 (32.4)	−6.3 (20.7)	6.3 (43.3)
Record low °C (°F)	−26.5 (−15.7)	−22.8 (−9.0)	−12.1 (10.2)	−4.9 (23.2)	2.0 (35.6)	6.5 (43.7)	12.9 (55.2)	12.1 (53.8)	2.9 (37.2)	−5.0 (23.0)	−15.6 (3.9)	−25.7 (−14.3)	−26.5 (−15.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	19.2 (0.76)	29.6 (1.17)	42.9 (1.69)	78.5 (3.09)	93.2 (3.67)	128.2 (5.05)	364.3 (14.34)	288.0 (11.34)	153.1 (6.03)	50.9 (2.00)	45.1 (1.78)	22.9 (0.90)	1,315.9 (51.81)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	5.7	5.5	6.8	7.5	7.9	9.1	15.3	13.3	8.8	5.5	8.2	7.4	101
Average relative humidity (%)	63.3	59.4	56.8	55.2	60.8	66.7	77.1	76.8	74.3	70.8	67.9	66.3	66.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours	170.8	174.3	202.4	214.9	232.0	203.3	150.0	170.4	173.7	189.9	153.2	161.3	2,196.2
Percent possible sunshine	54.0	55.3	51.8	53.4	50.5	42.5	31.5	37.9	44.4	54.0	49.9	52.9	47.5
Source: Korea Meteorological Administration (percent sunshine 1981–2010)^[3]^[4]^[5]

City symbols

City bird: Magpie
City flower: Azaleas
City tree: Pine

Ceramic village

The Icheon Ceramics Village features 300-plus ceramics-making firms in the area of Sugwang-ri, Sindun-myeon, Saeum-dong, and a popular visitor attraction.^[6] They use traditional skills and produce porcelains in some 40 traditional firewood kilns. This pottery is recognized both at home and abroad for its quality.

The Saeum-dong and Sindun-myeon areas also include a ceramics village with many ceramics stores. Potters have researched traditional methods and revived the manufacture of ceramics in the style of Goryeo celadon and Joseon white porcelain here. The village is the center of the effort to preserve these traditions.^[7]

UNESCO

Icheon was designated as a UNESCO Creative City for Crafts and Folk Art, in in 2010. In 2018, the city was elected as the first designated city for Craft and Folk Art among South Korea's creative cities. It served as the designated city until September 2021.^[8]

Education

University

Twin towns – sister cities

Icheon is twinned with:^[9]

Jingdezhen, China (1997)
Kōka, Japan (2005)
Santa Fe, United States (2013)
Seto, Japan (2006)
Wuxi, China (2005)
Limoges, France (2015)
Santa Clara, United States (2019)

Notable people

Sŏ Hŭi: The historic figure of Goryeo dynasty who made a huge decision with Khitan people who was forcefully occupying northern areas of Korean peninsula.^{[citation needed]}
Kang Mi-na (강미나): South Korean singer, rapper, dancer, actress and K-pop idol, former member of K-pop girlgroup Gugudan and its subunits Gugudan 5959 and Gugudan SeMiNa.
Choi Jeong: Baseball player who played for SK Wyverns/SSG Landers and South Korea national baseball team
Kim Se-yong (김세용): ceramist.
Chun Woo-hee: South Korean actress.

References

^ "Yeoju Line Set to Open in 2016". Kojects. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
^ "Icheon Overview". Icheon.
^ "Climatological Normals of Korea (1991 ~ 2020)" (PDF) (in Korean). Korea Meteorological Administration. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
^ 순위값 - 구역별조회 (in Korean). Korea Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
^ "Climatological Normals of Korea" (PDF). Korea Meteorological Administration. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
^ "Icheon". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2014-10-19.
^ Official pages of Icheon city
^ "UNESCO Creative City". Icheon.
^ "International Exchange Cities". icheon.go.kr. Icheon.