On July 30, the Hwacheon County Council concluded its 297th extraordinary session, during which council members passed a resolution urging the designation of the county's second Peace Economic Zone. This session marked the first extraordinary meeting since the 10th Hwacheon County Council was established, focusing on various policy initiatives aimed at securing future growth and improving the quality of life for residents over a 15-day agenda.
During the sixth plenary session, the council approved the 'Resolution Urging the Designation of the Hwacheon County Peace Economic Zone,' co-sponsored by Chairperson Jo Woong-hee and seven other council members. The resolution will be forwarded to the government, the National Assembly, and the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province.
The council also approved 12 ordinances, the 2026 second supplementary budget, and changes to the fund management plan as originally proposed. This extraordinary session, which began on July 16, served as a platform to review the administration's key tasks and discuss the direction of military governance for the second half of the year.
During deliberations, council members focused on issues directly affecting residents, including the expansion of stay-type tourism, stable implementation of basic income for rural areas, attracting businesses and creating jobs, enhancing childbirth and welfare support, and strengthening disaster response.
Chairperson Jo Woong-hee emphasized the need to expand the foundation for stay-type tourism, develop sports vacation programs, and improve educational conditions in preparation for the establishment of a public high school for military families. Vice Chairperson Lee Sun-hee proposed linking the tomato festival with sunflower tourism resources and expanding the economic impact of local sports events.
Council members Kim Dong-wan, Kim Myung-jin, Kim Eun-kyung, Park Jin-cheon, and Choi Ho-ki each raised specific issues, including job creation through the designation of the Peace Economic Zone, disaster response systems, securing funding for basic income, expanding childbirth support and transportation welfare, and revitalizing industrial complexes to create youth jobs.
During the review of ordinances and the supplementary budget, discussions centered on expanding delivery services in mountainous areas, protecting civil service workers, securing funding for basic income in rural areas, enhancing facilities to respond to heat waves, and strengthening the competitiveness of traditional markets. Council members visited the site of the Gumanri Hwacheon Dam historical trail project in Gandan-myeon to inspect facility safety and completion status, requesting improvements before finalization.
The core of the resolution urging the designation of the Peace Economic Zone reflects the council's belief that a national growth foundation must be established for border areas that have endured sacrifices for national security over a long period.
The council argued that Hwacheon County faces challenges in industrial base development and attracting businesses due to military facility protection zones and various development regulations. They called for the evaluation of not only development potential but also military regulations, population decline, and the risks of regional extinction to be included in the criteria for the designation process.
Additionally, they urged the government to establish a new growth model for border areas through the opening of the second Hanawon, experiential security and unification education, development around Hwacheon Station, and linking security and peace tourism resources. They called for the designation of the second Peace Economic Zone, expansion of the target area, reflection of border area sacrifices in evaluations, enhancement of infrastructure linked to Hwacheon Station, and an increase in development project funding for special situation areas.
This extraordinary session is recorded as the first comprehensive review of military governance and policy direction since the establishment of the 10th Hwacheon County Council. Notably, through the resolution urging the designation of the Peace Economic Zone, the council clearly expressed a collective will to address the issues of regulations and population decline in border areas as a matter of national balanced development rather than a local concern.
Attention now turns to whether the policy proposals and resolutions presented by the council will translate into government policies, securing national and provincial funding, and institutional improvements that residents can feel.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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