Gapyeong-gun Awarded '2024 Local Government Administration Award'

Grand Prize in Population Extinction Response
Efforts to Address Population Decline through Festival and Tourism Policies

Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province (Governor Seo Tae-won) announced on the 29th that it won the grand prize in the Population Extinction Response category at the ‘2024 Local Government Administration Awards’ ceremony held on the 28th.

Gapyeong-gun received the Grand Prize in the Population Extinction Response category at the '2024 Local Government Administration Awards' ceremony held on the 28th. Photo by Gapyeong-gun

This event was hosted by Edaily Co., Ltd. and supported by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, the Korea Association of Mayors, Governors and District Heads, the Local Era Committee, and the National Regional Competitiveness Research Institute. Ten local governments and five heads of organizations who contributed to the development of local autonomy were honored with awards.

Gapyeong-gun received high praise for significantly increasing its resident population through regional festivals utilizing Jarasum Island and differentiated tourism policies. In particular, it was recognized as a regional model overcoming the population extinction crisis by attracting tourists.

Gapyeong-gun is enhancing its tourism policies centered on Jarasum Island by leveraging the ecological environment to boost the region’s competitiveness. Through this, it succeeded in securing approximately one million visitors during the month of June alone, presenting a new solution to the problem of population decline.

Governor Seo Tae-won said, “Despite the challenges of being a population-decreasing area, Gapyeong-gun has established itself as a tourism city through specialized policies and programs. We will continue to strive to surpass an annual resident population of 10 million by revitalizing the local economy through various regional festivals and implementing tourism policies that highlight Gapyeong-gun’s unique characteristics.”