Gangwon State to Establish Gangwon-Style Integrated Care Hub System by 2027

【Financial News Chuncheon = Reporter Kim Ki-seop】Gangwon State has become the first metropolitan local government in South Korea to respond to civil society's proposal to expand care financing. It has unveiled a blueprint to establish a Gangwon-style regional hub support system by 2027.
According to Gangwon State on the 21st, the province held a meeting that day at the Trade Consultation Room of the provincial government office with executives from the Joint Action for a Dramatic Expansion of Care Financing, a broad-based social coalition. The meeting focused on ways to advance integrated care and represented a proactive step toward building a comprehensive care system amid the population decline crisis.
The meeting was arranged after the care-financing joint action requested meetings with the heads of metropolitan local governments nationwide in July, and Gangwon State became the first to respond. The joint action was launched in April by 206 organizations from the health and medical care, welfare, and labor sectors. It has called on the central and local governments to ensure the stable establishment of integrated care and expand its financing.
The participants discussed key issues for improving care conditions in Gangwon amid the crisis of local population decline. They focused on securing an integrated-care budget, expanding care providers and qualified professionals, implementation conditions in each city and county, support measures for vulnerable areas, and ways to link population-decline response policies with integrated care. Gangwon State also provided a detailed overview of its plan to establish a Gangwon-style regional hub support system for integrated care, which it will pursue as a major priority in 2027, signaling its commitment to expanding care infrastructure.
The provincial delegation included Gangwon Governor Woo Sang-ho, Welfare and Health Bureau Director Ji Yeong Yoo, Senior Welfare Division Director Joo Nam-seok, and Social Service Agency Director Yoo Man-hee. The care-financing joint action was represented by Standing Co-Chair Kim Yong-ik, Policy Committee Chair Kim Dong-ho, Executive Committee Chair Im Ji-jun, and Co-Chair Park Jun-young.
Governor Woo Sang-ho said, "No matter how good a care policy may be, it cannot reach residents in time without the budget, qualified professionals, and service providers needed to support it." He added, "We will incorporate all the issues discussed today, from securing the budget to supporting vulnerable areas, into the 2027 regional hub support system and build a Gangwon State with no gaps in care."

[email protected] Kim Ki-seop Reporter