Ganghwa County Launches Incheon's First Dedicated Population Department with Visible Results

[Suwon Ilbo=Choi Ki-ho] Ganghwa County is achieving visible results following its establishment of a dedicated population department through organizational restructuring, marking Incheon's first such initiative.

In February of this year, amid nationwide population decline and concerns over regional depopulation, the county established a "Population Growth Director" position as a dedicated organization for population policy to overcome the limitations of previous systems where population policies were scattered across multiple departments.

This was a preemptive administrative restructuring aligned with the central government's launch of the "Population Strategy Planning Division," intended to strategically oversee and coordinate population policies.

Since the establishment of the dedicated organization, the county has achieved results in securing national and municipal budgets related to population, discovering new policies, and implementing projects overall. The move demonstrates the effectiveness of establishing a dedicated organization through continuous achievements in various contests and fiscal projects, according to evaluations.

These achievements are assessed as resulting from the dedicated organization's unified role spanning from responding to current issues to securing funding and executing policies. The dedicated department closely analyzes policy directions from the central government and Incheon Metropolitan City and concentrates on strategic responses tailored to them, showing results.

■ Securing S-grade rating in Regional Depopulation Response Fund, first in capital region...Secures 8.8 billion won in project budget

The most notable achievement is securing an S-grade rating in the Regional Depopulation Response Fund for the first time in the capital region and securing 8.8 billion won in total project budget for next year, an increase of 1.6 billion won from the previous year. This result was achieved through managing the entire process from strategy establishment through project planning to evaluation response on a one-stop basis.

Additionally, the county also oversees subsidy projects for special situation area development that represent a significant portion of county finances, serving as a key management axis for major subsidy resources.

The county operates regular first and second-half progress reports targeting the entire Regional Depopulation Response Fund and special situation area development projects, examining execution status and performance by project and establishing a detailed budget management system to support results.

■ 'Hometown Love Donation System' shows 69% increase year-over-year...Exceeds 200 million won

Through comprehensive oversight and intensive management of the Hometown Love Donation System, the Population Growth Director achieved a fundraising amount exceeding 200 million won as of December this year, a 69% increase from the previous year.

The growth of the Hometown Love Donation System is significant in that it supplements the weak finances of population-declining regions and provides a foundation for the county to autonomously pursue policies.

The county expanded private platforms available for Hometown Love Donation participation and newly developed experience-based return gifts, implementing strategies differentiated from other local governments. Additionally, it improved the publicity and fundraising management system.

Based on these achievements, the county plans to implement three "Hometown Love Fund Projects" with a total scale of 120 million won next year.

■ Securing new municipal budget for next year...Doubles project scope

The Rural and Fishing Village Study Program support project is another area where the effects of establishing a dedicated organization are distinct.

The county signed a memorandum of understanding with the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education and implemented the Rural and Fishing Village Study Program for the first time this year, and secured new Incheon metropolitan budget for next year.

This enabled the county to expand project scale on a stable financial foundation, allowing it to operate the program targeting 40 households next year, double the current year.

Particularly in participant household satisfaction surveys, the program received positive evaluations from both parents and students with an average score of 87%. This is assessed as an achievement demonstrating the potential for the Rural and Fishing Village Study Program to extend beyond a simple experiential policy to actual settlement and expanded relationship population.

■ Living infrastructure improvement and youth policies strengthen population foundation

Improvements in living environment serving as the foundation for population inflow also stand out.

The county conducted a "Survey on Vacant Houses Status" this year to understand the current situation of vacant houses within the county and plans to systematically manage related data.

Based on this, the county implemented the "Vacant House Improvement Support Project," a Ministry of the Interior and Safety subsidy project for the first time this year, completing improvements on vacant houses that had raised concerns about housing environment and safety, leading to substantive improvements in residential environment.

For youth, the county operated the "Youth Startup Seedling Mentoring Program" which received strong response. Local startup experts and owners of renowned cafes in the county participated as mentors, sharing actual entrepreneurship experience and supporting the vitalization of the regional startup ecosystem.

■ All-out efforts to pursue mid-to-long term population strategy centered on dedicated department

The county plans to strengthen the "population policy control tower" function centered on the Population Growth Director and continue pursuing mid-to-long term population strategies encompassing the expansion of permanent residents, relationship population, and transient population.

To this end, in October, the county hosted the "National Policy Response Population and Future Strategy Seminar," the first among domestic local governments, proactively seeking the county's future vision including responses to regional depopulation, fostering regional industries, cultural tourism, and strategies for promoting the Panmunjom Peace Prosperty Zone.

County Governor Park Yong-chul said, "Population issues cannot be solved by single projects or one-time policies," and "We will respond strategically through a dedicated organization and continue steadily pursuing population policies that county residents can tangibly feel through figures and results."