'Nationwide First' Policies Across Childbirth, Agriculture, Culture, and Welfare
Innovation in a Small County Spreads as a National Model
Park Junghyun, Governor of Buyeo County in South Chungcheong Province, is breaking the mold of traditional local administration.
He has been implementing a series of 'nationwide first' policies that are rarely seen in counties with a population of around 58,500, creating experimental models that lead national administration across all areas, including childbirth, agriculture, culture, and welfare.
These policies are not just simple attempts but have been proven through tangible results and are already spreading to other local governments, changing the trends in local administration.
According to a comprehensive report by The Asia Business Daily on November 20, Park's most notable innovation is in childbirth policy.
Based on the philosophy that "all children are equal," he introduced the nation's first 'universal childbirth support grant of 10 million won regardless of birth order' in 2023.
He boldly abolished the previous practice of providing different amounts for first, second, and third children, and shifted to a system where every newborn receives the same 10 million won support.
Although there were concerns about the financial burden, the policy was successfully established through budget adjustments and building consensus among county residents. It has since spread to other local governments such as Jeongeup in North Jeolla Province and Danyang in North Chungcheong Province, and is now referred to as the 'Buyeo Model.'
Governor Park also brought innovation to agriculture by launching the nation's first 'indigenous microorganism resource project,' advancing the scientific development of agriculture.
Microbial samples were collected from 207 sites across 16 towns and townships, securing functional microorganisms and establishing a system to distribute them to local farms.
Since 2019, the eco-friendly comprehensive microorganism cultivation facility has supplied eight types of microorganisms, including EM bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, and lactic acid bacteria, enhancing the competitiveness of local agriculture. This model is highly regarded, to the extent that the South Chungcheong Agricultural Research and Extension Services and other cities and counties have directly benchmarked it.
In the fields of culture and economy, the local currency 'Goodtrae Pay' has been expanded into a new administrative platform. For the first time in the country, a 'reading challenge function' was added to the local currency app, allowing residents to receive local currency points as rewards for reading and recording books.
This is the first case of combining local currency as a tool for cultural policy beyond the economic sphere, achieving both the revitalization of local reading culture and a virtuous cycle in the local economy.
Governor Park's welfare administration has also stood out. Over the past three years, Buyeo County has implemented a 'dementia prevention social impact bond (SIB)' project, providing AI-based memory training services to 303 patients with mild cognitive impairment.
As a result, only 9 out of 264 follow-up examinees were diagnosed with dementia, reducing the dementia diagnosis rate to 3.4%.
The estimated social cost savings from this project amount to 21.3 billion won for Buyeo County and approximately 7 trillion won nationwide, leaving a significant mark in a region that has entered a super-aged society.
In addition, Governor Park is pursuing the first-ever 'hidden independence activists discovery project' at the county level. Through independent research, 425 independence activists have been identified, with commendation applications submitted for 25 individuals in 2020 and 140 in 2025.
This serves as important evidence of the extensive history of the anti-Japanese movement in Buyeo, and since 2019, projects such as installing village monuments to honor these activists have also been carried out.
Thanks to these achievements, Governor Park was awarded the grand prize in the local government innovation category at the '2025 Korea Global Leader Awards,' a rare honor for a county-level leader.
Governor Park's administration is no longer confined to the local level. By continuously implementing nationwide first policies, he is leading the direction of local administration and demonstrating to the entire country that even small local governments can become centers of innovation.
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