● World Youth Day 2027, a massive Catholic festival, is expected to attract between 400,000 and 1 million Catholic youth, with 40,000–50,000 of them, including 10,000 foreigners, attending the Jeonju Diocese Convention. Thus, Jeonbuk State must seize this rare opportunity to promote itself as the capital of K-culture and leverage the region’s great religious heritage to develop religious pilgrimage programs.

● Jeonbuk must proactively support World Youth Day to 1) welcome the youth of the world who visit Jeonbuk with a spirit of hospitality and solidarity, 2) provide Jeonbuk-specific assistance to strengthen the region’s reputation as the capital of K-culture, and 3) promote religious pilgrimage programs as a prospective international pilgrimage site by securing relevant approval. 

● To this end, we put forth the following four proposals. First, Jeonbuk should lay a policy foundation for the event by establishing an extensive network of support organizations and formulating comprehensive plans in close collaboration with its cities and counties, relevant institutions, and religious leaders. Additionally, it must develop a series of viable projects to preserve or utilize the heritage and sacred sites of the region’s six major religions, including Catholicism. 

● Second, Jeonbuk is advised to effectively manage pilgrimage routes for the event to improve the pedestrian environment and accessibility for foreigners as well as the elderly and people with disabilities (e.g., pavement rehabilitation, accessible public transportation, shuttle buses, and barrier-free zones). In addition, explanatory content and experiential programs must be provided concurrently. 

● Third, we propose developing convergence content and festivals that combine K-culture and religious heritage. Under the catchphrase “Enjoy the Festival in Seoul and Experience Authentic Korea in Jeonbuk,” all parties concerned in Jeonbuk State are urged to develop Jeonbuk-specific programs and promote them to parishes worldwide. This will motivate participants to attend the Jeonju Diocese Convention, where they can experience traditional Korean culture and K-pop. 

● Fourth, Jeonbuk State must strengthen its reputation as a representative region of religious coexistence and pursue the global presence of its religious heritage, which will prompt world religious and cultural festivals that attract international attention. Furthermore, it needs to promote interfaith routes that take participants through different places of worship, ultimately making them international pilgrimage routes. Going a step further, Jeonbuk must redouble its effort to elevate the status of its pilgrimage sites to international pilgrimage sites approved by the Vatican, inscribe its Catholic heritage sites on the World Heritage List, and engage in additional excavations of the region’s religious heritage sites that may be eligible for designation as World Heritage Sites.

● Last, despite being a Catholic event, World Youth Day 2027 is a global cultural festival that is open to the general public and encourages all participants to experience each other’s cultures while fostering global cooperation and solidarity. It is not only a religious event but also serves as a platform for promoting religious tourism and pilgrimage, which requires public assistance in the context of extending hospitability and facilitating regional development. 

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