Gokseong County Wins Grand Prize at National Basic Local Government Manifesto Best Practices Contest

Rated the Best Nationwide for “Policies Responding to Changes in Population Structure”

Gokseong County recently won the "Grand Prize" in the population structure change response category at the 2025 National Basic Local Government Heads Manifesto Best Practice Competition held at Andong Campus of Kyungpook National University. Provided by Gokseong County

Gokseong County in South Jeolla Province (Governor Cho Sangrae) announced on July 29, 2025, that it has won the Grand Prize in the category of “Responding to Changes in Population Structure” at the 2025 National Manifesto Best Practices Contest for Basic Local Governments. The contest was co-hosted by the Korea Manifesto Implementation Headquarters and the Gyeongbuk Research Institute, and was recently held at the Andong campus of Kyungpook National University.

The contest was organized to share and disseminate outstanding cases of pledges and policies from local governments across the country. A total of 401 policy cases in seven categories were submitted by 159 basic local governments. Of these, 191 cases that passed the first round of document screening underwent on-site presentation evaluations, and the final award-winning cases were selected.

Gokseong County was highly praised for its strategic response to the crisis of local extinction through the “Gokseong Model of Sustainability,” where childbirth and childcare, education and culture, and settlement and community are organically connected, under the theme “A City Where People Want to Give Birth and Settle Down.” As a result, the county was honored with the Grand Prize.

In particular, the on-site evaluation panel gave high marks to the county’s tangible achievements in improving the residential environment and encouraging residents to settle down, through a variety of policies and programs, including: ▲ establishment of a customized family education complex ▲ operation of a local community for resident communication ▲ presence of a pediatric specialist for continuous care ▲ operation of a pilot education development special zone ▲ opening of a children’s library ▲ hosting of the Simcheong Children’s Grand Festival and Balloon Festival ▲ and the Semjingang Wetland Yeonhawon.

This award has served as official recognition, at the national level, of the excellence of Gokseong County’s policies in terms of improving residents’ quality of life, enhancing settlement conditions, and policy effectiveness.

Governor Cho Sangrae stated, “The positive evaluation of the Gokseong Model policies is the result of working together with our residents,” and emphasized, “We will continue to strengthen sustainable policies so that giving birth, raising children, and living in Gokseong will be a source of pride.”

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