SANGJU CITY

Sangju City covers fertile granary which spreads along the Nakdong River. In the earliest days, it was rich with natural resources, thus establishing such ancient tribal nations as Sabolguk, Koryong-Kayaguk which became prosperous in this area. During the Unified Shilla Dynasty, Sangju was one of the Nine Provinces, and in Goryeo Dynasty, it was one of the Eight Provinces. In Joseon Dynasty, Sangju had already become grand as the capital city of Gyeongsangbukdo Province, thus the Mayor of Sangju City held an additional position - the Provincial Governor of Gyeongsangbukdo.

In 1895, the name of the district was changed to Sangju-gun. Even though Sangju City was separated from Sangju-gun in 1986, Sangju City and Sangju-gun were unified again in 1995 to promote the development of this growing city.

Symbol Mark

Sangju’s symbol mark is a visual object that intensively symbolizes the image of Sangju and is the very core element of Sangju which is used as a communication instrument of all visual media. The symbol mark is supposed to internally create the sense of unity for Sangju people and to externally convey a uniform message of Sangju, so it should be accurately used in accordance with rules and regulations related to its usage in various aspects.

Mening of the Symbol

It symbolizes three whites that are Sangju’s specialties - rice, dried persimmon, and cocoon.

Also, it encapsulates “S” - the first letter of Sangju - and the Nakdong River that calmly runs along the city, representing the hopeful path of Sangju’s future development.

With the shape of a bud coming out of rice seed, it indicates the takeoff toward a new world. Overall the Taegeuk shape implies the harmony and unity of Sangju citizens and it symbolizes that Sangju is the center of Korea.

Sangju City is a urban and rural composite town located in the northwest inland of Gyeongsangbukdo, and it is bordered with Gumi-si and Euiseong-gun on the east, Boeun, Okcheon, and Goesan-guns of Chungcheongbukdo on the west, Yeongdong-gun (Chungcheongbukdo) and Gimcheon-si on the south, and Mungyeong-si and Yecheon-gun on the north.

As it is located in a northwest inland area of Gyeongsangbukdo, its climate is close to continental climate with a clear cycle of three cold days and four warm days. The annual average temperature is 12~13℃; the average temperatures in the coldest month, January and the hottest month, August, are around -3℃ and 26℃, respectively. Especially as going further into the mountainous area in the northwest region, the winter temperature becomes lower. The annual average rainfall is about 1,050㎜, relatively higher than 1,000㎜ in the most inland region around the Nakdong River.

In 1998, Sangju had the record rainfall of 1,873㎜ due to several natural disaster.

In the last 10 years, the annual average number of sunny days reached 156 days, demonstrating that vast open fields, adequate rainfall, high summer temperature and a substantial amount of sunlight offer excellent conditions to grow agricultural crops.