Benefits Pouring In Just by Signing Up: Gangwon Living Resident Card's Popularity 'Explodes'

【Financial News Chuncheon=Reporter Kim Ki-seop】One of the essential items for residents of the metropolitan area visiting Gangwon Province is likely to become the Gangwon Living Resident Card.
According to Gangwon Province on the 11th, the Gangwon Living Resident Card, which started on May 1st, recorded 12,717 subscribers as of August 8th, achieving visible results within 100 days of implementation.
The Gangwon Living Resident Card was introduced with a focus on 'stay' rather than 'address' to attract living population to stay in Gangwon and invigorate the economy. It can be issued by simply entering basic information online through Gangwon Benefit Easy or Gangwon Living Resident without any address requirements, membership fees, or physical card issuance.
After issuance, various benefits such as discounts on accommodations, leisure, and tourist facilities, as well as tourism products and provincial government information, can be received.
The Gangwon Living Resident Card surpassed 5,000 subscribers in its first month of implementation and has been steadily increasing by more than 100 people per day on average, with 75% of subscribers being residents of the metropolitan area, establishing itself as a practical connection channel for the 'Metropolitan Gangwon Era'.



In addition, the number of partner locations has rapidly increased from 135 at the initial stage to 205 currently, expanding by more than 50% in three months. Various industries such as accommodation, leisure, tourism, food, arboretum, and experiences are voluntarily participating, providing a range of benefits from additional services to up to 40% discounts on accommodations.
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 2024 Q4 statistics on living population in population-declining areas, Gangwon Province's stay population was 6.6 times the registered population, ranking first nationwide, and both the average stay time and card usage ratio were also ranked first nationwide.
Gangwon Province plans to further expand partner locations beyond tourism-centered design to include culture and convenience-oriented lifestyle services and strengthen 'stay-type consumption' to expand the living population inflow. Starting with 50,000 people this year, they aim to expand by 100,000 people annually to secure 450,000 people by 2029 and continue to spread the system.
Governor Kim Jin-tae said, "The surpassing of 12,000 subscribers for the Gangwon Living Resident Card is akin to gaining new residents," adding, "Especially with 75% of them being metropolitan residents, Gangwon is in the process of being incorporated into the metropolitan area." He continued, "We will further expand lifestyle-oriented services to continuously increase the living population inflow."

kees26@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Ki-seop