Mayor Choi Woncheol Vows to Make Gongju a City Where People Want to Stay

Gongju City Regularizes Monthly Street Campaigns for Population Growth
Practical Population Inflow Expected Through Promotion of Youth, Family, and Education Infrastructure Policies

Choi Woncheol, Mayor of Gongju City, is conducting a street campaign on the 21st to attract population inflow. / Gongju City Hall

Gongju City in South Chungcheong Province is directly confronting the serious challenge of population decline. The city is launching a full-scale, citywide campaign to overcome the risk of local extinction and to transform itself into a place where people want to stay, putting all efforts into population recovery.

According to Gongju City on July 22, the city will conduct a street campaign once a month until December, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., at major intersections throughout the city. The campaign aims to promote the "Gongju City Population Growth Initiative" and the "Onnuri Gongju Citizen System."

The campaign will take place in Okryong-dong, Gangbuk, Jeonmak, near the Life Science High School, and near Sinwol Elementary School. Its purpose is to encourage people who work or study in Gongju but have their official residence registered elsewhere to move their address to Gongju and to settle in the city.

On July 21, about 50 people, including staff from the Education and Welfare Bureau of Gongju City Hall, as well as members of the Youth Network, Youth Center, and Family Center, participated in the campaign and communicated directly with citizens.

They distributed brochures on relocation benefits and related policies at the site, actively encouraging people to move to Gongju and promoting the city's population policies.

Mayor Choi Woncheol emphasized, "The population situation in Gongju City is currently very serious. It cannot be resolved by administrative efforts alone," adding, "Every citizen must become a key player in population recovery. I am determined to make Gongju a city where people want to live together and a place where people want to stay."

Since the launch of the 8th popularly elected administration, he has personally led the "Register Your Address in Your Hometown Campaign," spreading the message of population recovery to citizens at schools and on the streets throughout the city.

In particular, the city is accelerating the expansion of housing, education, and welfare infrastructure to help young people and newlyweds settle in Gongju.

Meanwhile, the city is actively pursuing a variety of practical policies to increase population inflow, including encouraging urban-to-rural migration, supporting young people and newlyweds, expanding the inflow of corporate employees, and improving childcare and educational environments.