Gangwon FC, the top-flight professional soccer club backed by public support from Gangwon Province, has backed down from its insistence on hosting all home games exclusively in Gangneung, yielding to the anger of roughly 60 percent of provincial residents and a formal order from the governor to reconsider.
The dispute, which had threatened to inflame regional tensions between the Yeongdong and Yeongseo areas of Gangwon Province, has now been resolved. Some observers have noted political undertones in the sequence of events — the Chuncheon mayor's refusal to enter a stadium, an apology issued a year later, an announcement excluding Chuncheon from hosting after that apology, and Governor Woo Sang-ho's subsequent order to reconsider — and say the episode could give rise to new friction over the club's leadership. Woo has separately offered high praise for the team's head coach in recent weeks.
Gangwon FC's home games for the 2027–2028 seasons have been finalized as a split arrangement between Chuncheon and Gangneung, following Governor Woo's directive to revisit the original decision.
Chuncheon Mayor Yuk Dong-han, Gangneung Mayor Kim Jung-nam and Gangwon FC representative Kim Byung-ji signed a "mutual cooperation agreement on the distributed hosting of Gangwon FC home games" at the provincial government office Monday. Lee Ki-young, chairman of Gangwon FC's supporters group Nareusha, also attended the signing.
Under the agreement, the three parties committed to carrying out its terms in good faith, with the goal of promoting provincial unity, balanced regional development and the sports industry through professional soccer. The arrangement covers the 2027 and 2028 seasons, and detailed implementation matters are to be determined through separate agreements among the parties.
The deal closes, within about a month, the controversy over the home venue that erupted after last month's decision to hold all games in Gangneung.
Gangwon FC had announced on Aug. 24 that it would hold all of its 2027–2028 home games exclusively in Gangneung.
Gangneung had submitted a letter of intent accepting all of the conditions the club had set out as mandatory. Chuncheon, by contrast, said it needed further discussions on some of those conditions — a stance the club interpreted as failing to meet the mandatory requirements, leading to the Gangneung-only decision.
The announcement drew fierce backlash from Chuncheon residents and Yeongseo-area citizens, who together account for well over 60 percent of Gangwon Province's total population. Governor Woo ordered the club the following day to reconsider so that home games could also be held in Chuncheon.
"This agreement is a meaningful first step for Gangwon FC, as a club belonging to the people of the province, to stand together with all residents — in Chuncheon, Gangneung and beyond," Woo said.
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