The "Great Transformation National Forum," organized by the Social Reform Committee under the prime minister's office, was held in Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province for the first time. The Gangwon-focused edition was co-hosted by the Gangwon Democracy Foundation, Chuncheon City and the Gangwon Research Institute.
The forum opened Thursday afternoon at Liberty Hall of the Gangwon Research Institute at 880 Baksa-ro, Seo-myeon, Chuncheon. It was convened to explore solutions to structural regional challenges facing Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, including inequality, polarization and industrial shifts.
Key issues on the agenda included population decline, regional depopulation and changes in the industrial structure — all central to Gangwon's transformation agenda.
Gangwon Province Governor Woo Sang-ho said the answer to the province's transformation lies in "building industries and finding good jobs on the foundation of clean nature and clean energy." He added that he would incorporate the proposals put forward at the forum into provincial governance and work to translate them into policy and institutional change.
In the first session, Yoon Hong-sik, a professor of social welfare at Inha University, presented on "Conditions for South Korea's Great Transformation," and Jang In-su, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs' population policy division, spoke on "Directions for Regional Population Policy in an Era of Population Decline."
The second session featured presentations by Lee Won-hak, a senior research fellow at the Gangwon Research Institute, on "Policy Tasks for a Just Transition in Gangwon"; Yong Jeong-sun, a Gangwon Province Assembly member, on "How to Redistribute the Fruits of Growth"; Yoon Yo-wang, chairman of the Chuncheon Starlight Social Cooperative, on "The Value and Transformation of Small Schools Through Rural Study Programs"; and Kim Seong-hun, chief executive of Wassup Town, on "Local Youth Villages as an Alternative to Regional Depopulation." A panel discussion followed, moderated by Ha Gwang-yun, standing director of the Gangwon Democracy Foundation.
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