Boseong-gun 2nd Anniversary of the 7th Elected Term, Securing Large-Scale National Projects to Establish New Urban Growth Engines

Establishing a Communication Hotline with Residents Using Text Messages and SNS

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Boseong County has secured a budget of 440.8 billion KRW across 173 sectors through public contest projects since the 7th local government, laying the groundwork to realize major urban development strategies.

In particular, attracting large-scale national projects has played a pivotal role as a driving force leading the future of Boseong for the next 10 to 20 years envisioned by Governor Kim Cheol-woo during the 7th local government, bringing about a transformation into a ‘completely new Boseong’ through organic connections between projects.

Governor Kim Cheol-woo, to keep his promise to the residents to “open the era of a 600 billion KRW budget,” actively utilized his extensive political and administrative network by traveling between central government ministries, the National Assembly, and the Blue House, acting as a business-oriented governor, and opened the era of a 600 billion KRW budget for Boseong County within one year of taking office.

◇ Realizing Boseong-style Blue Economy as a Marine Tourism Hub on the Southern Coast

Yulpo Comprehensive Tourism Complex, a marine tourist destination representing Boseong, has rapidly grown into a marine tourism hub on the southern coast during the 7th local government by hosting events such as the Yulpo Beach Live Fish Catch Festival and the Yulpo Beach Fireworks Festival.

Additionally, the newly opened Yulpo Sea Green Tea Center has surpassed 360,000 cumulative visitors, emerging as a representative spa destination in South Korea and revitalizing the local economy. It is recognized as a model case in the operation of government facilities, which had a strong image of deficit operation, and was selected as an ‘Excellent Local Finance Institution of 2019’ by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Building on this momentum, the 7th local government of Boseong County attracted a 48 billion KRW marine leisure tourism hub project from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to develop Yulpo Beach into a representative beach of South Korea and a stay-type hub tourist destination connecting Yeongnam and Honam regions, thus giving wings to the realization of the Boseong-style Blue Economy.

Including the 30 billion KRW education and cultural facility for teachers from the Jeollanam-do Office of Education, attracted in 2018, and the 18.9 billion KRW fishing village New Deal project (Hoecheon area), nearly 100 billion KRW of investment is being made in the Yulpo tourism complex area.

Governor Kim Cheol-woo stated, “The big picture of the Yulpo tourism complex has been completed through the attraction of large-scale national projects, and now we will actively pursue private sector investment to develop Yulpo Beach as Boseong’s tourism hub and South Korea’s number one stay-type marine tourism destination.”

◇ Strengthening Transportation Infrastructure with Railway Network... Completing Urban Reconstruction Strategy through SOC Complex Projects

The transportation network supporting tourism projects is also undergoing revolutionary changes. With the opening of the KTX Boseong Station in 2023 through the Southern Coast High-Speed Rail project, travel time from Busan to Boseong will be within two hours, and the electrification of the Gyeongjeon Line will reduce travel time between Seoul and Boseong to about two hours and 30 minutes.

Governor Kim Cheol-woo has been continuously appealing and requesting the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to ensure the simultaneous opening of the Southern Coast High-Speed Rail project and the Gyeongjeon Line electrification project.

Governor Kim foresees that once the railway network projects are completed, Boseong County will become a transportation hub connecting the metropolitan area and the southern coast. Considering the potential for growth as an industrial center in distribution and manufacturing beyond tourism, he is moving swiftly by establishing detailed plans to respond to the opening of the high-speed rail.

In particular, the 70 billion KRW Boseong-eup and Beolgyo-eup Living SOC Complex Project, selected last year, is expected to significantly contribute to urban reconstruction and improvement of residential conditions, enhancing practical welfare for residents, and become a core project that can generate optimal synergy by organically linking various projects.

◇ Realizing Participatory Autonomy through the Boseong600 Project... Establishing a Resident Hotline via SNS and KakaoTalk

Since the beginning of the 7th local government, Boseong County has diversified its publicity channels and opened communication windows with residents wide open. Administrative information friendly to residents was produced through Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms, and active administration was carried out by communicating with local residents through comment sections, winning the Best Public PR Award in South Korea.

The governor himself actively engaged in the field by holding dialogues with residents and operating on-site governor’s offices, listening to the vivid voices of residents in their living spaces and reflecting them in county administration. This year, the ‘Our Neighborhood, We Cultivate Boseong 600 (hereafter Boseong600)’ project was promoted as a key policy to get closer to residents.

Governor Kim visits project sites in each village to listen to residents’ on-site complaints and grievances, instructing immediate resolution for issues that can be handled on-site, and linking those requiring review to solutions through pre-application systems for village-level long-standing projects, thereby listening and communicating with residents. As a result, Boseong County ranked 5th nationwide in the administrative service category of the 2020 local government evaluation.

Additionally, communication hotlines were established by creating text message and group chat windows to communicate with village heads and residents. These communication channels were utilized as platforms for sharing information during disaster and emergency situations. In June, when residents in hail-damaged areas contacted the county, officials arrived on-site within 10 minutes to assess the damage and order recovery, demonstrating prompt administration and earning praise as an icon of local government communication among residents.

◇ 92% Implementation Rate of 7th Local Government Pledges... Resolving Long-Standing Resident Requests

The 7th local government of Boseong County has set the goal of building a “hopeful Boseong full of dreams and happiness” and is striving to keep promises to residents with an implementation rate exceeding 92% for its pledges.

Among these, five pledges have been completed, and considering projects that are repeated annually, such as support for cataract surgery costs, the actual completion rate of pledges exceeds 30%.

The 7th local government is not only fulfilling pledges but also actively addressing residents’ long-standing requests. Notably, within six months of Governor Kim Cheol-woo’s inauguration, the traditional terraced tea plantation agricultural system in Boseong was registered as the 11th National Important Agricultural Heritage after four attempts, a remarkable achievement.

Furthermore, the urban gas supply project in Boseong-eup, which was at risk of cancellation after Korea Gas Corporation voluntarily withdrew due to lack of economic feasibility, was revived by changing the rationale to an energy welfare issue and securing approval from the State Council.

Currently, the natural gas supply projects in two regions (Gapyeong County in Gyeonggi Province and Boseong County) have completed preliminary feasibility studies by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and are awaiting final approval, with a total project cost of approximately 210 billion KRW and a target completion year of 2023.

◇ Elevating the Status of Green Tea and Developing Boseong Kiwi as the Second Strategic Crop

In particular, the 7th local government has focused on revitalizing Boseong’s representative brand, Boseong Green Tea, including agriculture and fisheries. To increase tea farmers’ income, active collaboration with large corporations (Dongwon F&B), convenience stores (CU), and others has led to the development and launch of new beverages, and entry into the convenience food market tailored to modern consumer patterns.

Challenges have been made not only in the domestic market but also in the global tea market. In April, Boseong tea ‘Ocean Breeze Tea,’ launched on the world’s largest online shopping mall Amazon, ranked first in the new powdered green tea product category, surpassing Japanese and Chinese teas.

The 7th local government of Boseong is pursuing registration of ‘Boseong Tea Agriculture’ as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage following its designation as a National Important Agricultural Heritage, targeting 2021. The application will be completed by the end of August and submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs by November this year. Additionally, preparations are underway to host the 8th World Tea Expo this fall, showcasing tea culture, industry, and trends at a glance.

Leveraging its position as the top kiwi producer nationwide, Boseong is fostering the kiwi industry alongside green tea, creating a dual structure of specialty products. The county is planning a premium Boseong Kiwi cultivation project, promoting facility modernization and specialized education for farmers. Collaborations with the Rural Development Administration are also ongoing to enhance the competitiveness of Boseong kiwi.

◇ Boseong County’s Advanced Crisis Response Shines Again Amid the COVID-19 Crisis

Governor Kim Cheol-woo was the first in the nation to cancel his inauguration ceremony and began his term at the site of Typhoon Prapiroon flood damage. At that time, he secured the first-ever declaration of special disaster areas at the town and township level nationwide and restored disaster damage without county expenses, earning recognition for leadership and crisis response capabilities.

One year and nine months later, amid the ongoing threat of COVID-19 since March, Boseong County demonstrated advanced crisis management capabilities once again by uniting the public and private sectors to overcome the crisis and showing solidarity and care.

Especially during the nationwide mask shortage crisis, a voluntary mask-making volunteer group was organized centered on women’s volunteer organizations to produce cloth masks directly. Boseong County fully supported the costs of mask production and handled administrative procedures such as distribution, moving as a well-coordinated one team.

Governor Kim Cheol-woo was also the first among mayors and governors nationwide to return 30% of his salary and introduced various support measures such as purchasing local currency by public officials (200 million KRW), rent reductions for directly managed facilities, early payment of farmers’ and fishermen’s public subsidies (5.2 billion KRW), reductions in agricultural machinery rental fees, water and sewage fee reductions, special support payments for taxi drivers, and public utility support for small business owners, sharing the burden of hardship.

Recently, he has been carrying out welfare administration by volunteering to help with farm labor amid labor shortages caused by issues such as foreign worker entry.

◇ Establishing the Value of Agriculture and Increasing Added Value to Realize Wealthy Farming and Fishing Villages

Boseong County has 389 farms with over 100 million KRW in income, ranking 4th in Jeollanam-do. Governor Kim Cheol-woo expressed his determination to realize wealthy farming and fishing villages from the beginning of his term, saying, “No farmer will sigh even after a bountiful harvest.”

To this end, he has focused on revitalizing ‘Boseong Mall,’ an online direct sales market, which has shown steady growth with sales increasing by about 67% compared to 2018. Additionally, a comprehensive agricultural product processing center to help small-scale farms improve competitiveness and increase the added value of agricultural products is scheduled for completion this year.

Recently, Boseong was the only county in Jeollanam-do selected for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ “Rural Agreement Pilot Project,” gaining an opportunity to drastically change the rural living ecosystem. From 2021 to 2025, 30 billion KRW in national funds will be invested to transform agricultural sites and farmers’ lives, from smart farms to the establishment of new daycare centers.

Governor Kim Cheol-woo said, “The first two years of the 7th local government were a time to draw the big picture of Boseong’s development and secure resources by attracting large projects. The next two years will be a time when residents’ lives will change dramatically and tangibly through full-scale project implementation. We will lead county administration by carefully taking care of residents’ lives with a long-term perspective of 10 to 20 years, rather than chasing immediate profits.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.