Gangwon Governor Woo Sang-ho to proceed with new provincial office relocation... “Plans for Chuncheon’s old downtown come first”

[Financial News, Chuncheon = Reporter Kim Gi-seop] Gangwon Governor Woo Sang-ho agreed that measures should first be drawn up to fill the void in Chuncheon’s old downtown after the provincial offices move. The relocation of the new provincial office to Goeun-ri is therefore expected to proceed at an adjusted pace, taking into account both measures for the old downtown and the province’s financial situation.
According to the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Provincial Council on the 13th, Woo agreed that measures to revitalize the old downtown should come first after provincial council member Lee Gyo-seon (Chuncheon 2, Democratic Party of Korea) raised concerns about the area’s decline following the relocation of the provincial offices during a provincial administration question session at the third plenary meeting of the 349th extraordinary session that day. Lee also proposed using the purchased site in Goeun-ri for public institutions, alongside measures to prevent the old downtown from being hollowed out.
Woo made clear, however, that the overall policy of relocating the new provincial office remains unchanged. Lee questioned the validity of changes to the evaluation criteria during the site-selection process and called for an objective reassessment of economic viability and safety, but Woo ruled out the need to revisit the process.


Woo maintained a cautious stance on the timing of the relocation. When council member Kim San (Democratic Party of Korea, Chuncheon 8) called for it to move forward swiftly during the provincial administration question session at the second plenary meeting the previous day, Woo replied that the relocation would proceed but would be difficult to complete on the original schedule. The new provincial office had been expected to be built by 2029, but its completion date has become uncertain since the province began reviewing the project after Woo took office.
Fiscal pressure lies behind the decision to adjust the pace. About 86 billion won has already been spent on design and land compensation, but more than 370 billion won in additional project costs will still be needed. Woo said, “Given the province’s financial situation, we cannot put 100 billion to 150 billion won into the provincial office construction fund every year, so we would have to borrow to do that,” adding, “It is very difficult to proceed with relocating the provincial offices if that means issuing local government bonds.”


Kim stressed that the provincial government should set out a clear direction for moving ahead, given that since the Goeun-ri site was selected in 2022, the project has passed the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s central investment review, a traffic impact assessment and land compensation, and received a building permit in March this year. He also proposed ways to secure funding, including easing the burden on residents caused by the prolonged designation of a land transaction permit zone around the planned site, introducing a tourism tax, establishing a compensation system for forest carbon absorption, and increasing allocations from the Han River Watershed Management Fund. He proposed forming a working-level consultative body involving both the provincial government and the council.
The province plans to decide later when construction of the new office building will begin, after comprehensively considering factors including its financial situation. Infrastructure work at the site, which had been halted after objects believed to be artifacts were found, resumed that day.
Asked whether the relocation might be scrapped, Woo said, “At present, the provincial government is not considering any options that could be examined on the premise that the provincial offices will not be relocated.”

[email protected] Kim Gi-seop Reporter