Eumseong County is composed of two towns (
eup) and seven townships (
myeon), with a total population of 98,619 people (including foreigners) as of March 31, 2013. The most central town is Geumwang (which also goes by the name Muguk). Although Jincheon-gun and Chungbuk Innovation City are jointly attracted to each other, they have the advantage that infrastructure is concentrated in areas that are promoted to the city first, so they are forming a rivalry with the leadership of Chungbuk Innovation City. Eumseong-gun is a traditional agricultural area based on fertile soil and abundant water resources. It is located in the center of the country, classified as the
Han River and Geum River basin, and borders Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do to the north,
Anseong-si, Gyeonggi-do to the northwest, Chungju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do to the east, Goesan-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do to the south, and Jincheon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do to the west. In particular, the northwest has many mountains and hills and abundant water sources, so it has been a fertile land with good farming since ancient times, and has been famous for its kind people. There are no famous mountains nationwide, but as part of the Sobaek Mountains, beautiful mountains with well-preserved natural ecosystems such as Gaseop-san (710 m), Buyong-san (644 m), Suri-san (505 m), and Sureui-san (679 m) are loved by mountaineers from other regions. Many farmers live in Eumseong County. They host two cultural festivals: the Pumba (traditional vagabond) Festival (품바축제) in the spring and the
Gochu (chili pepper) Festival (고추축제) in the fall. Eumseong is famous in Korea for its production of high-quality red chili peppers. Eumseong is also renowned for its
strawberries,
ginseng,
watermelon, and
beef. Eumseong County is home to three different high schools. Eumseong High School is located in the city of Eumseong, Chungbuk Semi-Conductor High School is located in Geumwang, and Maegoe High School is located in Gamgok. Maegoe is a Catholic all girls middle school as well as a mixed gender high school located at the base of a steep sided hill under a Christ-shaped statue. In addition, Global Vision Christian School|GVCS, an English-speaking Christian boarding school, is located in the city of Eumseong. There are two institutes of higher education in Eumseong county that are both located in the township Gamgok -
Far East University and
Gangdong College. Far East University is a four-year school while Gangdong College has only a two-year program. As of 2013, 20 to 30 foreign English teachers live in Eumseong County, who are from countries including the
United States of America,
Canada,
South Africa,
England, and
Scotland. The name "Eumseong" means "shaded castle" and is not to be confused with its
homonym "
human voice". In 1956, Eumseong's status was promoted from township to town. In 1973, Geumwang's status was also promoted to that of a town. Historically, the area of 'Eumseong' was limited to the current Eumseong-eup and Wonnam-myeon areas, and all other towns and villages were the areas of Chungju. == Population ==