Intensive Campaign Period in February and March
Signature Drive Conducted Both Online and Offline
Goheung-gun in South Jeolla Province announced on the 26th that it will launch a full-scale signature campaign calling for the swift transfer of management rights over Sorokdo.
Currently, the entire area of Sorokdo is designated as the jurisdiction of the National Sorokdo Hospital under the Ministry of Health and Welfare. However, administrative services and systematic management for residents' daily lives are insufficient, causing inconvenience for residents. In particular, there have been ongoing concerns about damage to environmental resources and cultural heritage due to a shortage of specialized personnel.
To resolve these issues, on June 25, 2025, President Lee Jaemyung, during his visit to Sorokdo, accepted the proposal of Goheung County Governor Gong Youngmin and instructed that the administrative and management functions for areas outside the hospital be transferred to Goheung-gun. Official discussions among the relevant ministries and agencies are currently underway.
Accordingly, Goheung-gun plans to directly receive the state-owned land, excluding the hospital zone, through the swift transfer of Sorokdo’s management rights, and to establish an integrated management system led by the local government. Through this, the county aims to efficiently preserve cultural heritage and environmental resources that are being neglected or damaged, and to quickly provide various welfare and administrative services to Sorokdo residents to support a stable life, which is why it has decided to promote the signature campaign.
The signature campaign will be conducted both online and offline. Offline signatures can be submitted at each eup and myeon office, while online signatures can be submitted via banner links and QR codes on the official Goheung-gun website and its official social media (SNS) channels.
Through this signature campaign, Goheung-gun plans to clearly express, both domestically and internationally, the local community’s firm commitment to the transfer of Sorokdo’s management rights, and on this basis, to carry out petition activities with the central government and the National Assembly for the swift transfer of those rights. In particular, February and March have been designated as the intensive campaign period for collecting signatures.
Currently, about 320 residents live on Sorokdo, and a resident-led opinion survey conducted in October last year showed that 79% of all residents support the transfer of management rights to Goheung-gun.
An official from Goheung-gun said, "Sorokdo is a place in need of preservation and healing, where the pain and healing history of Hansen’s disease patients, its outstanding natural environment, and the lives of residents coexist," adding, "A swift transfer of management rights to Goheung-gun is urgently needed to efficiently preserve Sorokdo’s valuable historical and natural assets and to provide Sorokdo residents with a comfortable daily life through systematic administrative services."
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