Since its designation as UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art, Icheon has consolidated itself as a reference of the Korean crafts industry. Icheon plays a key role in developing modern ceramics and in handing down traditional Korean ceramics, an ancient art going back over 1,000 years, from one generation to the next. 

Housing all of the necessary infrastructures in the ceramics process such as industrial enterprises, educational institutes and craft-related support facilities, Icheon has been designated as the only crafts specialized zone in Korea. The ceramic belt around Icheon accounts for 55% of the domestic ceramic industry. The 320 ceramic studios located in the area make Icheon Korea’s largest centre of the craft industry.

Events such as the Icheon Ceramic Festival and the Icheon International Sculpture Symposium illustrate the city’s status as a place of exchange, mutual understanding and creative activities. Today the city of Icheon is developing creative policies and programmes that are destined to put its people at the centre of the city’s transformation as a UNESCO Creative City. Icheon aims to preserve its creative and cultural resources and share these values with other cities around the world.