Haenam County Chief Myeong Hyeon-gwan: "We Must Actively Use the Special Chuseok Holiday Benefits to Revitalize Local Businesses"

【Financial News Haenam = Hwang Tae-jong】Myeong Hyeon-gwan, chief of Haenam County in the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City (Gwangju Special City), presided over an open communication meeting attended by heads of departments, offices and divisions, as well as township and myeon chiefs, on the 7th. He called for the active use of special Chuseok holiday benefits to revitalize local businesses.
 He also said, "Using the Haenam Love Gift Certificate, Onnuri Gift Certificate and refund events at local stores, which provide residents with substantial discounts and cashback benefits, can make it possible to buy goods at prices even lower than those available through online shopping." He urged residents to make broad use of the programs.
 Myeong Hyeon-gwan particularly emphasized, "As the ways to use digital gift certificates and other products continue to diversify, they must be operated thoroughly and carefully so that senior citizens can use them without difficulty and residents can enjoy benefits they can feel in their daily lives."
 According to Haenam County, the Haenam Love Gift Certificate will offer its largest-ever discount of 18% in September through discounted purchases and cashback. The Onnuri Gift Certificate will also be sold at a 10% discount from the 16th to the 20th.
 In addition, a 7% additional cashback benefit will be offered for payments at businesses in Haenam County designated as establishments with fair prices, until the budget is exhausted. A refund event offering up to 20,000 won in Onnuri Gift Certificates will be held at traditional markets in Haenam-eup from September 16 to 20, while a separate event offering refunds of up to 20,000 won in Haenam Love Gift Certificates and Onnuri Gift Certificates will be held for purchases at stores in Haenam-eup from September 15 to 18.
 The meeting also discussed several key agenda items, including thorough hygiene management at food booths during The Great Battle of Myeongryang Festival, held from September 11 to 13 amid hot weather; measures for public-private cooperation to improve awareness amid a rise in traffic accidents; the status of rice pests and diseases, including brown planthoppers, and control measures; and follow-up measures following the selection of candidate universities for a new national medical school.
 Myeong Hyeon-gwan expressed regret, saying, "The southwestern region, including Haenam County, has an extremely high proportion of elderly residents, reaching about 40%. It takes more than two hours to travel from Songji in Haenam County to a university hospital, making this a medically underserved area where a rapid response to serious and emergency patients is more urgently needed than anywhere else. The failure to establish a national medical school, a long-standing wish of southwestern residents for the past 36 years, has caused enormous disappointment among local residents and heightened concerns that the region's chronic medical care gap will continue."
 He asked the deputy county chief to lead the development of future response measures. He also proposed expediting infrastructure projects to expand the regional transportation network, including the Gwangju–Yeongam–Haenam expressway, to secure the golden hour for emergency patients in the southwestern region and improve access to medical care. He said concrete and practical measures were needed to establish a "regionally self-contained medical care system" in which residents could receive necessary treatment on time regardless of where they live in the integrated special city.

[email protected] Hwang Tae-jong Reporter