Jeongseon County Selected as 'S Grade' in 2026 Local Extinction Response Fund, Secures 8.8 Billion Won

Jeongseon County in Gangwon Province announced on December 8 that it has been selected as an 'S grade' region-the highest rating among favorable areas-in the 2026 Local Extinction Response Fund investment plan evaluation organized by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, securing 8.8 billion won in funding.

Aerial view of Jeongseon County Office.

The Local Extinction Response Fund is allocated to 89 population-declining regions and 18 regions of interest designated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. This year, the evaluation system and allocation criteria were adjusted during the evaluation process, resulting in procedures that differed from previous years.

The main changes included subdividing the previous two-tier structure of 'excellent' and 'favorable' into S, A, and B grades for favorable regions, and strengthening program (SW)-focused evaluation items in addition to the existing facility (HW)-centered assessments. These measures were implemented to mitigate differences between excellent and favorable regions and to enhance the effectiveness of fund investments.

In accordance with the revised evaluation criteria, Jeongseon County received the highest 'S grade' among favorable regions and secured an additional 1.6 billion won as an incentive for new investment plans, in addition to the basic allocation of 7.2 billion won.

Under the vision of "A Happy Life While Living in Jeongseon, Jeongjuhaeng Jeongseon," the county continues to promote projects such as improving residential environments, strengthening access to medical care, expanding educational competitiveness, enhancing transportation welfare, and reinforcing the foundation for youth settlement.

The county believes that its efforts to improve living conditions-reflected in its fund execution record over the past three years, expansion of the county hospital, enhancement of public transportation services, and exemplary cases as an educational development special zone-contributed to its evaluation.

Additionally, the appropriateness of newly required program-focused plans, following the adjustment of evaluation criteria, is also analyzed to have had a positive impact on the grading.

Jeongseon County plans to use the secured funds as planned to strengthen residential infrastructure, including the creation of a public rental town, remodeling and modernization of the county hospital annex and dialysis center, expansion of electric buses, and establishment of an integrated education system.

Kim Younghwan, Director of Planning, stated, "Despite challenging financial conditions, we will use this opportunity to bring about real changes in responding to local extinction and improving the residential environment."

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