Suwon Receives Grand Prize in 'Mutually Beneficial Cooperation' Category at 2025 Korea Local Governance Awards

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Suwon Special City received the grand prize in the 'Mutually Beneficial Cooperation' category at the '2025 Korea Local Governance Awards' held at the Press Club of the Korea Press Center on the 24th.

The 'Korea Local Governance Awards,' jointly hosted by the Parliamentary Committee on Administration and Safety and News 1, are presented to innovative local governments and companies that have contributed to and demonstrated achievements in preventing regional depopulation and responding to the demographic cliff.

The city received high recognition for its cooperation with Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang Province, which has the second-highest population decline rate in the nation. Beginning with initial exchanges in 2015, the two have maintained mutual visits and representative festival exchanges over 12 occasions.

Following the establishment as a sister city in June of last year, the city has carried out various collaborative activities including △Saebbit Suwon Public Officials Workshop initiatives △operation of a Suwon public officials' resort within Bonghwa County △operation of Bonghwa specialty product sales booths at events in Suwon. In April of this year, the city participated in the 'Special City-Population Declining Region Mutual Cooperation Agreement' to establish a foundation for joint response.

In particular, the 'Cheongryangsan Suwon Camping Ground,' which is set to open this year, exemplifies a mutually beneficial development model that combines Bonghwa County's natural resources with Suwon City's social resources.

The city will improve the existing camping facilities in Bonghwa County and operate them free of charge for 10 years, promoting stay-type regional tourism. The plan aims to meet Suwon residents' camping and cultural tourism demands while increasing the floating population in Bonghwa County to respond to regional depopulation.

Deputy Mayor Hyun Geun-taek stated, "Regional population decline is not an issue of any single region but a critical matter linked to national survival," and added, "We will continue our efforts so that Suwon and Bonghwa County's mutual cooperation cases, including the Cheongryangsan Suwon Camping Ground, can be established as exemplary cases of national balanced development and as a standard model for inter-regional cooperation."