Together Well-Being Society, "Find New Hope in 'A World Where We Prosper Together' in the New Year"

[Suwon Ilbo=Eom In-yong Reporter] The Together Well-Being Society (Chairman Yang Seung-jo, hereinafter "Together Society") held the '2025 Together Well-Being Society New Year's Meeting' on the 16th at Sunmoon University Student Hall.

The 'Together Society New Year's Meeting' was attended by approximately 500 people, including Former Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun, National Assemblymen Moon Jin-seok, Lee Jeong-moon, and Lee Jae-gwan, along with guests, supporters, and members under the theme of 'New Year, New Hope.' The event proceeded in two parts: Part 1 was the Together Forum and Part 2 was the New Year's Reception.

In Part 1 of the Together Forum, a presentation titled 'Regional Decline Crisis and Policy Response' was delivered by Cha Mi-suk, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, on the topic 'How Should We Overcome Regional Depopulation?' With Jeong Yun-seon, Senior Research Fellow of the Korea Industrial Research Institute, serving as moderator, panelists including Gu Ja-hyun, Senior Research Fellow of the Korea Development Institute, Jeon Sung-man, Research Fellow of the Korea Local Administration Research Institute, Jo Sang-dong, Senior Research Fellow of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Advancement, and Professor Lee Eung-gi of Kongju National University engaged in spirited discussion.

Cha Mi-suk, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, stated, "In addressing regional depopulation, the role of local governments is crucial. It seems necessary to develop alternative proposals based on voices from the field."

During the comprehensive discussion, Research Fellow Gu Ja-hyun stated, "To revitalize regional industries, it is important to increase R&D capacity in regions and establish networks working together with regional universities."

Research Fellow Jo Sang-don noted that "activating regional innovation ecosystems is an important measure," while Research Fellow Jeon Sung-man emphasized, "We must establish a plan to pool budgets from various government departments aimed at overcoming regional depopulation and allocate them according to regional characteristics." Professor Lee Eung-gi requested, "Chungcheongnam Province should also consider creating an environment where the manufacturing industry grows together."

In Part 2 of the Together Society New Year's Reception, participants and Together Society members and supporters pledged to cooperate in creating a world where all prosper together by finding new hope in the new year.

In his closing remarks, Chairman Yang Seung-jo stated, "If the Republic of Korea continues on its current path, it faces the threat of national extinction, with regional depopulation as the beginning," and emphasized, "We will determine what policies can revitalize our regions, devise bold policy measures, and work together with Together Society members and participants to think through and resolve these challenges."