Living Population Surpasses 1 Million... Promoting Sustainable Growth through Expansion of Transportation and Living Infrastructure
Military Facility Protection Zone Lifted and Transportation Infrastructure Expanded
Regional Balanced Development 'Boosted' through Increased National and Provincial Funding
Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province (Governor Seo Tae-won) has been working tirelessly throughout this year to build "Gapyeong, a city where nature blossoms into economy." Great efforts were made to improve the quality of life for over 63,000 residents, establish a foundation for self-reliance, and revitalize the local economy. Notably, surpassing a living population of one million including border areas of Gapyeong-gun, successful festival hosting, expansion of transportation infrastructure, and increased national and provincial funding are considered key examples demonstrating Gapyeong-gun's growth potential. Here, we revisit the major achievements of Gapyeong-gun over the past year.
This year, Gapyeong-gun took the lead in revitalizing the local economy through successful flower festivals and jazz festivals. As a result, the living population surpassed one million.
The "Jaraseom Flower Festa," held from May to June and September to October on Jaraseom Namdo, attracted a total of 365,000 visitors and concluded successfully. During the event, direct economic effects of approximately 2.4 billion KRW were generated through admission fees and agricultural product sales, with indirect economic effects estimated at about 27.8 billion KRW.
Gapyeong-gun also separated the public sector "Jazz Festival in Gapyeong" and the private sector "Jaraseom Jazz Festival" for the first time this year, gaining great response by linking with local commercial districts. To lead the era of ten million tourists with distinctive tourism industries, the Bukhangang Millennium Waterway cruise ship, connecting Bukhangang riverside tourism resources via shuttle buses and cruise ships, began official operation in April.
Thanks to these successful cultural, tourism, and festival efforts, Gapyeong-gun's living population exceeded one million, injecting vitality into the local economy. According to the living population survey released by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Statistics Korea, as of the end of June 2024, Gapyeong-gun's living population (registered population + resident population) surpassed 1.06 million. In particular, the resident population reached approximately 998,900, which is 15.6 times the registered population of about 62,000 in Gapyeong-gun, ranking second highest among 89 nationwide population-decreasing areas. The resident population refers to those who stay in Gapyeong area for more than three hours at least once a month, serving as a key indicator of Gapyeong-gun's economic vitality.
In February, Gapyeong-gun achieved the removal of approximately 10.4 million square meters in Sang-myeon and Jojong-myeon from military facility protection zones through active proposals and consultations with the Ministry of National Defense and others. This area had been designated as a military facility protection zone for 25 years. The released area corresponds to a 2 km radius around the 103rd Aviation Battalion military facility protection zone (helicopter restricted protection zone) designated in September 1998, covering more than 3.5 times the area of Yeouido, Seoul. This removal is expected to greatly aid regional development by activating various permits and lifting building height restrictions.
The county is also laying the foundation for balanced regional development through the expansion of transportation infrastructure. To improve accessibility to the metropolitan area and local transportation conditions, the county is actively leading the prompt promotion of the National Road No. 75 improvement project. First, the design service fee for the approximately 100 billion KRW "National Road 75 Cheongpyeong~Gapyeong Road Improvement" project was included in this year's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport budget to ensure swift progress. This laid the groundwork for the 11.9 km linear improvement project from Goseong-ri, Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong Bridge to the entrance of the waterworks office in Daljeon-ri, Gapyeong-eup.
The recently opened "National Road 75 Gapyeong Daljeon District Dangerous Road Improvement Project" expanded the existing two-lane road to four lanes and improved the 625m section's alignment with a budget of 12.4 billion KRW invested by Gyeonggi Province. Additionally, the "National Road 75 Gapyeong Bokjang District Dangerous Road Improvement Project," completed this year with a budget of 14 billion KRW from Gyeonggi Province, was also finished. Furthermore, as a result of actively emphasizing the urgency and necessity of local road projects between Gapyeong~Hyeon-ri and Sangpan~Jeokmok, these projects were selected as part of the "Gyeonggi Northern Special Self-Governing Province Road Sector Strategic Projects," achieving visible results.
Especially, the extension of the Metropolitan Area Express Railway (GTX)-B line to Gapyeong and Chuncheon is being actively pursued. In October, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it would begin a feasibility study on the GTX-B line extension following requests from Gapyeong-gun (Gyeonggi Province) and Chuncheon City (Gangwon Province). The GTX-B line, which held its groundbreaking ceremony in March, was originally planned to open in 2030, connecting 80.1 km from Incheon National University Station to Maseok. Gapyeong-gun is making every effort to have both Gapyeong Station and "Cheongpyeong Station" stops included in the national plan upon the GTX-B line extension.
To overcome the county's poor financial conditions, remarkable achievements were made in securing the Local Extinction Response Fund, Gyeonggi Province regional balanced development project funds, and rural agreement public offering projects.
This year, the county secured a total of 7.2 billion KRW from January to the end of November by actively acquiring the "Local Extinction Response Fund." The secured funds are planned to be invested as follows: 3 billion KRW for the US-UK Security Park creation, 3.8 billion KRW for the Cheongpyeong-myeon amusement park project, and 400 million KRW for the Seorak children's play experience facility.
The county also actively secured 40 billion KRW this year for the "Regional Balanced Development Project" to overcome poor financial conditions, utilizing it as valuable resources for regional development. The funds are planned to be used as follows: 14.5 billion KRW for the Gapyeong Integrated Water Purification Plant expansion project, 11.8 billion KRW for the US-UK Security Neighborhood Park creation, and 13.7 billion KRW for the construction of major connecting roads in Gapyeong-eup.
Additionally, in June, Gapyeong-gun was finally selected for the 2024 "Rural Agreement" public offering project hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, securing 21 billion KRW in national funds. The total project cost is planned at 30 billion KRW over five years starting in 2025, including the 21 billion KRW national funds. Major submitted projects include the Cheongpyeong-myeon central area revitalization project, Seorak-myeon basic living base creation project, Sang-myeon basic living base creation project, and the second phase of Jojong-myeon basic living base creation project.
The long-awaited designation of "Gapyeong-gun border area," a wish of over 63,000 Gapyeong residents, is also approaching reality and is considered one of this year's greatest achievements.
On December 12, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it would begin legislative notice from the 13th to partially amend the enforcement decree of the "Special Act on Support for Border Areas" to additionally designate Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, and Sokcho City, Gangwon Province, as border areas. Once designated as a border area, Gapyeong-gun, although part of the metropolitan area, will exceptionally be eligible for "second home, one household one house tax benefits" and receive various financial supports from the government for border areas. To expedite designation as a border area, Gapyeong-gun conducted a county-wide signature campaign from April 22 to the end of June, achieving a high signature rate of 71.5% (45,370 people), greatly exceeding the initial goal of 50% of all residents.
In addition, on October 8, the county held the "57th Gapyeong Residents' Day" event at Gapyeong Sports Complex to boost residents' pride and promote unity. The event was attended by key figures including Governor Seo Tae-won, Chairman Kim Kyung-su of the County Council, and about 3,000 residents celebrating Residents' Day. After the ceremony, popular singers performed, and a sports competition involving six towns and townships showcased residents' unity and skills.
The county also took the lead in residents' health and welfare by providing free influenza vaccinations to all residents regardless of age starting this year. Gapyeong-gun is the second in the Gyeonggi region, following Seongnam City, to offer free vaccinations. The free vaccinations are being administered by age group from this year until April 30 next year.
Seo Taewon, County Governor Leading the Signature Campaign for Designating the Border Area. Provided by Gapyeong County
For the first time this year, the county strengthened health services by providing free shingles vaccinations to seniors aged 65 and over. The county began the first dose for 3,000 people on October 21 and plans to expand to all seniors aged 65 and over next year, aiming to vaccinate approximately 6,700 additional people.
Governor Seo Tae-won stated, "Throughout this year, we have worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for over 63,000 residents, establish a foundation for self-reliance, and revitalize the local economy. Based on this year's achievements and successful experiences, more than 830 county officials will unite as one next year to fully commit to realizing the vision of 'Gapyeong, a city where nature blossoms into economy.'"
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