City of Pueblo and Gunsan City of South Korea Sign Letter of Intent on Establishment...

PUEBLO-The City of Pueblo and Gunsan City of the Republic of South Korea signed a letter of intent to establish a friendly relationship on Tuesday, Dec. 5. During a Zoom meeting Mayor of Pueblo Nick Gradisar and Mayor of Gunsan City Im June Kang signed the letter of intent alongside members of Pueblo's Sister City Commission and a delegation from South Korea.

"This signing ceremony for friendly relations marks the beginning of what we hope to establish as a long lasting and productive relationship between Gunsan City and Pueblo," said Mayor of Pueblo Nick Gradisar. "This is a continuation of the relationship established through our trip to South Korea last fall and when we welcomed a delegation from Kunsan University in the spring earlier this year."

This first step in the process of establishing a sister city relationship allows Pueblo and Gunsan City to begin mutual cooperation. President of Pueblo Sister Cities Commission Micheal Salardino, Vice President of City Council Dennis Flores, Seargeant Frank Ortega of Pueblo Police Department and member of the Sister Cities Commission, and Sister Cities Commission Members Donielle Kitzman, Ray Erjavec and Erik Segall all were in attendance as well.

Mayor Gradisar, traveled to South Korea last fall as part of a trip with President of Pueblo Community College (PCC) Patty Erjavec, along with former Dean at PCC Young Kim and Vice President of City Council Dennis Flores. One of the cities visited on the trip included Gunsan City where the Pueblo delegation met Mayor Kang and his leadership team.

"As Mayor Gradisar visited Gunsan City in September 2022 and toured the city, I believe that Mayor Gradisar knows that Gunsan and Pueblo have much in common and that both cities are making great efforts to revitalize the cities' economy centered on renewable energy industries such a as wind and solar energy," said Mayor of Gunsan City, Republic of Korea Kang Im June. "We hope that Gunsan City and Pueblo will move forward with a win-win relationship through practical policy exchanges and sharing concerns to solve current issues."

In April of this year, a group of professors and university officials from Kunsan University of Gunsan City visited Pueblo. During the visit there were meetings with PCC and CS Wind which included intentions for collaboration, exchange student programming and more. Sister City relationships many times include opportunities with agriculture, education, culture, economic development, safety, tourism and other mutually beneficial cooperation.

Pueblo has a long history of strong international relationships with other sister cities. Currently, Pueblo had six Sister City relationships with Bergamo Italy; Chihuahua, Mexico; Lucca Sicula, Sicily; Maribor, Slovenia; Puebla, Mexico and Weifang, China. The United States and South Korea have enjoyed a special relationship