Pocheon City to Lead the Way with South Korea's First "Non-Legal Road Management Model"

Selected as Finalist in Gyeonggi Province Policy Research Project
Promoting Systematic Institutional Improvements for "Village Roads" Management

The research project titled "Study on System Improvement Measures to Enhance Management Functions of Non-Legal Roads," proposed by Pocheon City (Mayor Baek Younghyeon), has been selected as a finalist in the "2025 Second Municipal Policy Research Project" competition organized by Gyeonggi Province.

Pocheon City Hall view. Provided by Pocheon City

Fifteen cities and counties in Gyeonggi Province participated in this competition, and among them, three proposals were ultimately selected. Pocheon City was highly evaluated for its potential to bring about substantial institutional improvements in road management, and its clear demonstration of the necessity and commitment to pursue the research contributed to its selection.

This research project is the first of its kind in South Korea, with Pocheon City taking the lead in addressing the limitations of managing "non-legal roads" (village roads), an issue commonly faced by all 228 local governments nationwide. The project aims to present a standard model that other local governments across the country can reference in the future.

To systematically manage and improve the institutional framework for non-legal roads, which have been difficult to manage due to ambiguous legal grounds, the city plans to establish a clear management system and lay the foundation for developing relevant guidelines.

Additionally, Pocheon City will streamline administrative procedures to encourage voluntary land donations, enhance the efficiency of responding to civil complaints, and build a collaborative system between departments along with a dedicated service desk, thereby providing tangible administrative services that citizens can experience directly.

Before launching the research, Pocheon City will form a working-level consultative body and swiftly establish a dedicated task force with participation from relevant departments to conduct a status survey and discuss directions for institutional improvement in parallel.

A Pocheon City official stated, "Since non-legal roads are essential infrastructure directly connected to the daily lives and safety of citizens, we will use this research to establish a rational and sustainable management system. By centering our efforts around the task force, we will respond quickly and achieve substantial institutional improvements that citizens can truly feel."

Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Research Institute plan to begin full-scale research after consulting with the responsible departments of the selected cities and counties regarding the scope and content of the work. Depending on the outcome of these consultations, the project title and implementation period may be partially adjusted.

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