Gapyeong County Announces Top 10 News of 2025... Border Area Designation Takes 1st Place

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Eom In-yong] Gapyeong County announced on the 29th the 'Top 10 News of Gapyeong County for 2025,' selecting 10 major issues that had the greatest impact on county administration and the local community during 2025.

This selection was finalized by consolidating recommendations from local journalists and internal county assessments for 30 candidate news items that were initially screened.

First place goes to 'Confirmation of Gapyeong County's border area designation.' The government officially designated Gapyeong County as a border area at the State Council meeting in March.

Accordingly, the county secured an institutional foundation to receive various national support including special tax benefits for second homes, border area development support projects, and special circumstance area development projects. Through the border area designation, the county has established a turning point in its mid- to long-term growth strategy by promoting population inflow, improving residential conditions, and expanding tourism and living infrastructure.

Second place is the 'Successful hosting of the 71st Gyeonggi Provincial Sports Festival and the 15th Gyeonggi Provincial Disabled Sports Festival.'

The county successively held large-scale provincial sports events in April and May at Jara Island, welcoming athletes and spectators from 31 cities and counties across the province. In particular, the county successfully hosted the Gyeonggi Provincial Sports Festival and Disabled Sports Festival, which were attracted for the first time in approximately 70 years, receiving praise for enhancing the county's brand competitiveness.

Third place is 'Disaster response to record-breaking heavy rain in July.'

The county experienced massive damage including casualties, landslides, and road collapse due to record-breaking torrential rainfall on July 20. The county implemented on-site response and coordination with related agencies to minimize damage expansion and systematically promoted recovery work.

Fourth place is the 'Complete overhaul of Gapyeong County's representative symbol (CI).'

The county completely replaced its CI, which symbolizes the county, for the first time in 24 years and officially announced a new city image. The new CI embodies 'change and leaping forward' as its core values, and was immediately applied to the county flag and official documents. Through this, the county reestablished its administrative brand and worked on improving its external image.

Fifth place goes to 'Additional designation as a Peace Economy Special Zone.'

With amendments to related laws and regulations establishing an institutional framework for the county to be additionally designated as a Peace Economy Special Zone, the county began work on establishing a basic plan. The county is envisioning a Gapyeong-style Peace Economy Special Zone model by combining tourism, forestry, and water resources with regional characteristics, and is preparing a new growth axis linked to border area strategy.

Additionally, △Gapyeong's Jara Island completes registration as Gyeonggi Province's 'Regional Garden' (6th place) △Gapyeong County, 'first fruit' of border area designation...Secures 20.3 billion won in national funds (7th place) △Gapyeong County, one month after flood damage...Wounds run deep but recovery is rapid (8th place) △Gapyeong 'Jara Island Flower Festa'...Surpasses 100,000 visitors in 16 days (9th place) △Gapyeong County proposes special disaster area designation...Urgent need for prompt national treasury support (10th place) made the top 10 news.

County Governor Seo Tae-won said, "The Top 10 News of 2025 selected this time is a record that confirmed the potential for regional development through crisis response capabilities in overcoming disaster and securing future growth drivers," adding "Based on the experiences of 2025's accomplishments and hardship overcome, we will further enhance residents' quality of life in 2026."