Williamson County designates Jan. 9 'Yongin City Day' celebrating Sister City agreement
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- Williamson County is celebrating a relatively new relationship it has with a city thousands of miles away.
WilCo and Yongin City, South Korea officially entered a Sister City agreement in late September after the Williamson County Commissioners Court approved it in July. The agreement aims to "establish a relationship for stronger, friendly cooperation and mutual prosperity between the two communities," an announcement on the county's website said.
Now, Williamson County has designated Jan. 9, 2025, as “Yongin City Day."
A delegation, which included Yongin City Mayor Lee Sang-Il, traveled from Yongin City to visit the county Thursday to commemorate and celebrate the partnership.
The Commissioners Court approved the sister city partnership agreement on July 2, 2024. Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell later traveled to South Korea in September to participate in a signing ceremony for the agreement.
“This partnership will open up many avenues for exchanging ideas between residents, businesses and students. Imagine having Williamson County students participate in an exchange program with Yong-in Special City, and students from Korea coming here. We can learn much from each other,” Gravell said.
According to WilCo's website, the two communities -- though nearly 7,000 miles and oceans apart -- have a lot in common. Both are home to new Samsung foundries, are growing their semiconductor infrastructure, house several universities and have attracted world-class water theme parks, WilCo noted.
Yongin City has a population of just over one million people.
The county website also noted that since Samsung announced it was building its newest semiconductor manufacturing facility in Taylor, Williamson County has become a destination for other South Korean companies. At least seven Korean businesses have a presence in Williamson County, and at least 13 more have expressed interest in establishing a presence in the future.
The South Korean government designated Yongin City as the Next Generation Semiconductor hub, according to Williamson County. The city has received investments of more than $460 billion from the Korean Government, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix.
The city is also expected to become the largest semiconductor hub in the world when construction of the Yongin Semiconductor National Industrial Complex is completed, per reporting from the Korea Herald.