Sokcho City Activates Comprehensive Lunar New Year Holiday Plan... "All-Out Response for Safety, Livelihood, and Medical Services"

Sokcho City to Focus on 24 Tasks Across 6 Key Areas
Stronger Measures to Ease Traffic Congestion and Maintain Forest Fire Management System

Sokcho City in Gangwon Province is implementing a comprehensive plan for the 2026 Lunar New Year holiday, focusing on 24 priority tasks in six areas, including disaster response, traffic and medical measures, to ensure residents and tourists can spend a safe and comfortable holiday.

Sokcho-si is implementing a comprehensive plan for the 2026 Lunar New Year holiday, focusing on 24 priority tasks in six areas, including disaster, traffic, and medical measures, to ensure that residents and tourists can spend a safe and comfortable holiday. Provided by Sokcho-si

First, the city will strengthen visits and support for vulnerable groups in the welfare sector, such as elderly people living alone, children at risk of missing meals, people with disabilities, and low-income households, to help create a warm holiday atmosphere. It will also work to stabilize the local livelihood economy by proactively resolving delayed construction payments and unpaid wages, revitalizing traditional markets, and managing prices of holiday-related essential goods to keep them stable.

On-site response will also be strengthened to prepare for an increase in returning residents and tourists during the holiday period. The city will improve readiness at major tourist attractions and implement special traffic measures. Traffic guidance personnel will be deployed to areas prone to chronic congestion to strengthen guidance and enforcement against illegal parking and stopping. In preparation for possible forest fires caused by prolonged winter drought, the city will conduct prior inspections of parks and forest recreation facilities and continuously maintain its forest fire situation management system. It will also strengthen prior inspections of water supply facilities and operate a 24-hour emergency water supply system at all times to ensure a prompt response in the event of any water supply disruption.

The management of the living environment will also be reinforced. During the holiday period, Sokcho City will operate a task force dedicated to waste disposal and a separate team for managing public restrooms. However, as waste treatment facilities and cleaning service contractors will be closed on Lunar New Year’s Day, February 17, residents are asked not to put out household waste on the day before the holiday, February 16, and instead to dispose of it after 6 p.m. on Lunar New Year’s Day.

An emergency medical treatment system will also be in place to prevent any gaps in medical services. Sokcho City Public Health Center will operate an emergency treatment system from February 14 to 18 to reduce treatment gaps and minimize inconvenience for residents, returning visitors, and tourists in using medical institutions and pharmacies. Sokcho City Public Health Center has checked the operating status in cooperation with the local medical association, dental association, association of Korean medicine doctors, and pharmacists association, and during the holiday period, 71 medical clinics and hospitals, including emergency medical institutions, and 36 pharmacies will remain open.

During the holiday period, the emergency rooms at Sokcho Medical Center and Onjae Hospital will operate 24 hours a day as normal. For pediatrics, Kim Pediatrics Clinic, Song Pediatrics Clinic, Lee Hyunchul Pediatrics Clinic, and Lee Hoyoung Pediatrics Clinic will provide treatment on the morning of February 14. The designated public late-night pharmacy, Haengbok Pharmacy, will operate on February 14, 17, and 18 from 9 p.m. to midnight each day. Dialysis units will be operated by Onjae Hospital, Sokchojeong Convalescent Hospital, and Sokchogang Internal Medicine Clinic. In addition, 115 24-hour convenience-store-type outlets selling over-the-counter emergency medicines will be available, where people can purchase basic medicines such as fever reducers, pain relievers, and digestive aids.

Information on medical clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies that will be open during the holiday period can be checked through the websites of Sokcho City Hall, Sokcho City Public Health Center, and the National Emergency Medical Center, as well as via the smartphone app "E-gen" and Sokcho City’s official social media channels. Sokcho City Public Health Center will promote this operating information mainly to apartment complexes, bus terminals, and multi-use facilities before the holiday, and during the holiday it will operate an emergency medical treatment situation room to check whether medical institutions are operating as scheduled and to provide guidance on civil complaints.

Sokcho Mayor Lee Byungseon said, "To ensure that both residents and tourists can enjoy a happy Lunar New Year holiday, we will put the safety of our citizens and the stability of the livelihood economy first, and make every effort in proactive preparation and response, including price stabilization, welfare support, and prior safety inspections of multi-use facilities and major tourist attractions."

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