Attracting a 1.4 Trillion Won Pumped Storage Power Plant
Recognized for Leading the Soil Revitalization Movement in the Republic of Korea and Other Achievements
Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do, received the ‘Population Vitality Special Award’ at the 29th Korea Local Autonomy Management Awards held at KINTEX in Goyang-si on the 9th.
Hosted by the Korea Public Autonomy Research Institute, this awards ceremony is held annually to evaluate the regional development achievements of local governments, encouraging and disseminating exemplary cases.
This year’s ceremony was further enhanced by the attendance of Lee Gae-ho, a member of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party of Korea, and the chairmanship of the judging panel by Lee Dal-gon, former Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
The ‘Population Vitality Special Award’ received by Gurye-gun is a special award given to only one local government nationwide, recognizing Gurye-gun’s efforts to solve the population decline problem and revitalize the local economy.
The major project that the county devoted itself to overcoming population decline was attracting a pumped-storage power plant worth 1.4 trillion KRW. After successfully attracting the pumped-storage power plant last December, an inflow of 600 billion KRW in funds and the creation of up to 6,000 jobs are expected, and this achievement is evaluated as a great driving force in overcoming the local crisis.
In addition, Gurye-gun’s carbon-neutral soil revitalization campaign also attracted great attention. Last year, the county held the nation’s first carbon-neutral soil revitalization declaration ceremony and raised soil revitalization as a national agenda through a National Assembly forum in cooperation with the political community.
The county verified the revolutionary improvement effect through a demonstration test applying kelp liquid fertilizer instead of chemical fertilizers and plans to hold the ‘Soil Revitalization Expo’ in September this year to spread this nationwide.
Along with this, the county has been making efforts to attract related industries to foster future food industries in the region through carbon neutrality, successfully attracting the Natural Dream Healing Cluster with an investment of 264.3 billion KRW last year. This is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.
Moreover, the county has made great efforts to attract both resident and living populations. First, to leverage its strength as a tourist city, it focused on transforming the Seomjin River, which had been mainly preserved, into a new tourism hub.
To this end, in 2021, it signed an agreement with nearby Gwangyang-si, Gokseong-gun, and Hadong-gun to establish the ‘Seomjin River Integrated Tourism Belt Development Plan’ and successfully secured 113.3 billion KRW in project funds by proposing it to the government.
Alongside this, the county succeeded in attracting private investment for the Osan Cable Car and Jirisan Hot Spring Golf Course projects, raising expectations for a second renaissance in Gurye tourism. Additionally, securing the hosting of the 2026 Jeonnam Sports Festival has solidified its position as a strong sports county.
Efforts to create a living environment differentiated from cities also received positive evaluations. By establishing a lifelong learning hub center and dramatically improving the lifelong education environment, the county was designated as a lifelong learning city by the Ministry of Education. To overcome the crisis of school closures, it revitalized rural study programs, becoming the most preferred area for urban parents.
Notably, it was the first county-level area to introduce Kakao shared bicycles, contributing to alleviating rural transportation inconveniences.
Such efforts led to a miraculous event. In a situation where it was natural for the out-migration population to exceed the in-migration population, last year, for the first time, the in-migration population surpassed the out-migration population.
At the awards ceremony, Kim Soon-ho, the county governor, said, “I am very pleased that Gurye-gun’s efforts have been recognized as a model case through this award,” and added, “We will continue to develop Gurye into a prestigious city where living here is a source of pride by leveraging the region’s strengths.”
Gurye = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yuk Mi-seok hss79@asiae.co.kr
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