Changwon Special City Sets This Year’s Policy Direction: Citizen Safety and Livelihood Recovery

Supporting Stable Settlement for Women and Youth
Building a City Where Women and Young People Choose to Stay

Changwon Special City in South Gyeongsang Province has set this year’s city administration direction in the welfare and livelihood sectors as “citizen safety” and “recovery of livelihoods.” The city will pursue a comprehensive strategy to establish a dense and robust safety net that covers not only physical safety but also social protection and economic foundations.

To proactively respond to natural disasters that have become routine due to abnormal climate conditions, as well as increasingly complex social disasters, the city is focusing on building a “prevention-centered” safety system.

2025 Changwon-Type Strong Small and Medium Enterprise Designation and Plaque Awarding Ceremony.

First, to prepare for summer storm and flood disasters, the city will invest a total of 192.6 billion KRW in 11 projects, including improvements in the Angol and Banji natural disaster risk zones, renovation of the Sinpo (Cheoksan) storm and flood-prone residential area, installation of rainwater retention facilities in Sinchon and Myeongseo, and maintenance of steep slope collapse risk areas, to systematically improve disaster-prone areas.

Through these efforts, the city aims to preemptively block the possibility of storm and flood disaster damage in vulnerable areas and minimize casualties and property damage in the event of a disaster.

For wildfires, a major winter disaster, the city will further refine its phased response strategy, which includes “prevention, situation dissemination, and rapid response.”

Based on an advanced comprehensive wildfire prevention plan, the effectiveness of prevention activities will be enhanced. In the event of a wildfire, the city will strengthen on-site response capabilities by using digital communication equipment for swift situation dissemination, introducing advanced firefighting equipment, and establishing a wildfire response center.

The city will also focus its administrative efforts on preventing social disasters such as industrial accidents and facility safety incidents. While checking for legal compliance at public workplaces, the city will also provide guidance and inspections for private businesses to prevent the possibility of major accidents.

◆ Eliminating Welfare Blind Spots and Expanding Social Care Infrastructure

In response to the super-aged society, the city will work to create a “welfare community where no one is left behind” by strengthening customized welfare and care systems for each stage of life.

First, to address the low birth rate, the city will continue to support unmarried women with costs for oocyte cryopreservation and men and women with vasectomy and tubal ligation reversal procedures. In addition, three new national/public daycare centers and eight new communal childcare facilities in apartment complexes will be established to create a child-rearing-friendly living environment.

The city will also strengthen policies tailored for seniors, reflecting the reality that the population aged 65 and older has surpassed 20 percent. This includes establishing 105 new smart senior centers, expanding senior job opportunities to 16,681, operating a branch of the Masan Hoewon Senior Welfare Center, and building a municipal day care center for the elderly, with a focus on expanding the senior welfare infrastructure.

Support for vulnerable groups such as basic livelihood recipients, people with disabilities, and the homeless will also be expanded to minimize welfare blind spots.

The scope of social security support, including livelihood and medical benefits, will be broadened. At the same time, dedicated emergency response personnel for the homeless will be deployed to provide immediate assistance during nights and holidays, thereby strengthening emergency response and protection functions on site.

The city will sequentially carry out the necessary procedures for constructing memorial facilities to foster patriotism, such as the Jindong-ri Veterans Culture Center, Independence Movement Memorial Hall, and Marine Corps Foundation Memorial Hall. In addition, the city will expand the eligibility for veterans’ allowances to enhance respect and support for national merit recipients and their families.

Furthermore, the city will thoroughly prepare for the nationwide implementation of the integrated care service starting in March 2026, so that it can be established as a community-based care system linking medical, welfare, and nursing services.

◆ Establishing a Stable Foundation for Women and Youth

The city will work to expand the living infrastructure and increase opportunities for social participation so that women and youth can settle stably in the community.

To this end, a women-only startup incubation space will be operated within the KT Plaza in Masanhappo-gu to support women’s entrepreneurship. In addition, the city will provide sector-specific technical and professional training, career counseling, and employment information to help enhance capabilities and support ongoing social participation.

Youth policy will focus on comprehensive support covering jobs, education, housing, culture, daily life, and social participation, centered on the “2030 Changwon-Type Youth Policy Master Plan.”

To foster customized talent linked to local industries, the city will strengthen cooperation between companies and universities in the port/logistics and new industries sectors. The city will also support stable living for youth by providing moving expenses for newcomers and offering starter grants.

The scope of housing loan interest support will be expanded to include not only newlywed couples but also households with newborns, and the supply methods for youth housing will be diversified to ease the housing burden and create a safe and stable living environment for young people.

The city will also expand cultural hub spaces for youth. Additional branches of the Youth Vision Center will open in Masan and Jinhae, and the city will turn the landmark Garosu-gil into a hot place by linking it with the nearby Sponge Park and surrounding commercial areas, supporting youth networking and community activation.

◆ Supporting Growth Recovery and Revitalizing the Livelihood Economy

Amid external uncertainties and the accumulation of consumption contraction and management burdens due to high inflation, high interest rates, and high exchange rates, the city will pursue policies to boost domestic demand and exports to support regional economic recovery and stabilize livelihoods.

To stimulate domestic demand, the city will issue 500 billion KRW worth of Nubijeon (Changwon Love Gift Certificates), more than triple last year’s amount, and provide 120 billion KRW in small business development funds and management environment improvement projects to support sales recovery and management stability.

The city will also focus on revitalizing traditional markets, a key pillar of the local economy. Plans include improving parking environments, implementing safety management packages (covering electricity, fire, gas, etc.), and installing heatwave mitigation devices to modernize facilities and enhance convenience for citizens visiting traditional markets.

In addition, the city will promote various support measures to foster small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the backbone of the regional economy, and boost exports.

For local SMEs, the city will expand customized programs such as market development strategy marketing, overseas distribution network entry, and marketing education to enhance export capabilities. In particular, to improve the export structure’s heavy reliance on the US market, the city plans to diversify export channels by pioneering emerging markets such as the New Southern and New Northern regions.

Furthermore, to provide tangible financial support for SMEs experiencing management difficulties, the city will pursue institutional improvements such as adding new repayment methods for development funds and allowing refinancing, thereby promoting management stability.

Through these efforts, it is expected that Changwon’s representative SMEs will be able to grow into globally competitive strong small and medium-sized enterprises.

Jang Geumyong, Acting Mayor of Changwon Special City, stated, “Now, as the number of internal and external factors threatening citizens’ daily lives increases-such as increasingly complex disasters, sluggish domestic demand, and uncertainties in the trade environment-the administrative role of providing a safe shield for citizens’ lives is more important than ever. In 2026, Changwon Special City will do its utmost to establish a dense social safety net that ensures not only physical safety but also social protection and the livelihoods of all citizens, thereby safeguarding the stability of daily life.”