Hongcheon County Earns Top Grade A in Annual Education Development Special Zone Review

【Financial News | Hongcheon—Reporter Kim Ki-seop】 Hongcheon County earned the highest grade nationwide, Grade A, in the Ministry of Education's 2025 annual review of operations in Education Development Special Zone pilot areas.
According to Hongcheon County on the 18th, the Ministry of Education recently conducted an annual evaluation of the 2025 Education Development Special Zone pilot areas, reviewing their project implementation systems and performance. Hongcheon County received the highest grade, Grade A. Under the vision “Edu-WIDE Hongcheon, Hongcheon as an education city of broader dreams, opportunities, and happiness,” the county has worked to build a local education system linking care, education, talent development, and settlement. Given the county's vast geographical area, it has focused on improving access to education and creating an educational ecosystem in which learning, growth, career development, and settlement are connected within the region.
The county's experiential education programs linking local government, industry, academia, and research institutions have been particularly notable. They connected local bio and life-science resources, including the Hongcheon Institute of Medicinal Herb and the Seoul National University Systems Immunology and Medicine Research Institute, with students' career education. The county also continued efforts to incorporate local human and material resources, such as childcare facilities and village education communities, into education and care programs.
The collaborative system between Hongcheon County and the Gangwon Hongcheon Office of Education drew particular attention in this evaluation. Led by Education Superintendent Heo Nam-jin, the Gangwon Hongcheon Office of Education continued consultations with Hongcheon County on education policy planning, the identification of detailed projects, coordination with schools, the division of responsibilities among institutions, and budget and project management. During the performance management period, the two sides operated working-level consultative bodies 12 times and high-level and multi-stakeholder consultative bodies six times, while also holding working-level meetings as needed.
The county was also recognized for gathering opinions and identifying support needs from schools through the Regional Education Policy Council and meetings of principals and vice principals, then reflecting them in its project plans. It expanded cooperation to universities and research institutions, military units, and local organizations and groups. Rather than simply listing individual programs, the county focused on developing a regional education system connecting care, public education, career and talent development, and settlement.
Hongcheon County was designated as an Education Development Special Zone pilot area in August 2025. Although it had a shorter project implementation period than other pilot areas, the county is viewed as having achieved significant results by establishing an implementation system and a foundation for regional education cooperation within that period. The county plans to carry the cooperative system and regional education innovation experience accumulated through the Education Development Special Zone into its efforts to become a leading region for education innovation. It will build a sustainable Hongcheon-style educational ecosystem by expanding joint curricula among schools, sharing local resources, and strengthening connections between schools and the community, thereby closely linking schools with one another and with the region.
Hongcheon County Governor Shin Young-jae said, "The foundation for this achievement was laid by the consultative framework built together by the Gangwon Hongcheon Office of Education, schools, and the local community." He added, "We will continue to examine the projects in detail, develop education policies that residents can genuinely feel in the field, and steadily and substantively prepare to become a leading region for education innovation."

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