Imsil County () is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

North Jeolla North Jeolla Province, officially Jeonbuk State (), is a Special Self-governing Province of South Korea in the Honam region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Jeonbuk borders the provinces of South Chungcheong to the north, North Gyeo ...

Province,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Imsil County is a county in central South Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is an area upstream of the Seomjingang River in the Noryeongsan Mountains, and there is a basin that runs southeast to

Namwon Namwon (, ) is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. Namwon is about 50 minutes from the provincial capital of Jeonju, which is almost three hours away from Seoul. The official city flower is Royal Azalea () while the city tree is the ...

. The county office is located in Imsil-eup, and the administrative district is 11 myeon, 1eup. It is approximately 30 minutes south of

Jeonju Jeonju (, , ) is the capital and List of cities in South Korea, largest city of North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many resi ...

by car or bus. Domestic Korean cheese was first produced in Imsil County. Imsil County encompasses several important towns, mountains and natural areas. Imsil-gun has 14 elementary schools and an English center.

History

Proto–Three Kingdoms period

Imsil belonged to the Mahan State, as New Wunsin State.

Three Kingdoms period

The County was Inghil-gun in

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

Unified Silla Period

Imsil-gun belonged to Namwon-bu. Ingil-gun was renamed Imsil-gun in 759. The stone pagoda at Imsil Jingusaji Temple Site was also built during the Unified Silla period.

Today

The building was relocated in 2010.

Tourism

Imsil Cheese Village

Imsil Cheese Village () is located near the town of Imsil (within the county of Imsil). It offers vacation programs for children and tourists to learn how to make cheese. The cheese produced there is called Imsil cheese, following the county name. Imsil cheese is the unusual mission legacy of a Catholic priest from Belgium who took the Korean name of Ji Junghwan. He arrived in the farming village of Imsil, in the mid-1950s, when the economy was still shattered from the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He started a farmers’ milk cooperative, which eventually became the Imsil Cheese Factory. The factory still exists today and produces high-quality cheese and yogurt for the Korean market. A pizza franchise using Imsil cheese has become a widespread business in

since 2004, under the name of Imsil Cheese Pizza. Nearby livestock farms produce the dairy products required for the manufacture of the cheese.

Okjeongho Lake

Okjeongho Lake () is an artificial lake created by the construction of the Seomjingang River Dam. There is a walking trail by the lake. In the upper reaches of the Seomjingang River, Okjeongho Lake has a large temperature difference between night and day, so fog rises.

Education

Yewon Arts University is located in Imsil.

Climate

Twin towns – sister cities

Imsil is twinned with: *

Gangseo-gu Gangseo-gu (), or "''west of river'' district," is the name of a ''gu'' in 2 South Korean cities: * Gangseo District, Busan * Gangseo District, Seoul See also * Kangso-guyok, district of Nampo, North Korea {{Set index ...

Eunpyeong-gu Eunpyeong District () is one of the 25 List of districts of Seoul, districts of Seoul, South Korea. Eunpyeong is divided into 16 ''Dong (administrative division), dong'' (administrative neighborhoods). Eunpyeong is located in northwestern Seoul, ...

Busanjin-gu Busanjin District () is a ''Subdivisions of South Korea, gu'' in central Busan, South Korea. It has an area of 29.7 km2, and a population of about 410,000. The name is sometimes abbreviated locally as "Jin-gu". Busanjin District is home ...

References

External links

County government home page
{{Coord, 35.6130555656, N, 127.279444454, E, source:ruwiki_region:KR_type:city(37514), format=dms, display=title Counties of North Jeolla Province