HONGSEONG — South Chungcheong Province laid out its core administrative tasks and an implementation roadmap for completing a "Chungnam That Connects," pledging to speed up delivery on promises made to the province's 2.2 million residents.
Governor Park Soo-hyun held the first expanded executive meeting of his new term at the provincial government's main conference room on the 1st, joined by about 60 officials including the vice governors for administration and political affairs, heads of bureaus, divisions and institutes, and chiefs of public agencies. The session doubled as a briefing on plans to carry out the administration's agenda.
The province identified 260 core tasks for the term, comprising 104 campaign pledges, 97 priority projects and 59 other agenda items.
The administration set seven goals: a Chungnam that works with its residents, becoming South Korea's artificial intelligence capital, a dynamic innovation economy, a warmer society that leaves no one behind, safe and comfortable communities, clean farming and fishing villages of the future, and a prosperous and healthy society.
Park repeatedly stressed "Chungnam as the AI capital" and "Chungnam-style balanced growth" as the central directions of his administration.
"The AI transformation Chungnam is pursuing goes beyond industrial innovation to achieve three kinds of balance — between industry and people, between large corporations and small businesses, and between advanced and traditional industries," Park said. "If the Chungnam model succeeds, we should have the confidence and pride to believe it can become a leading model not just for South Korea but for the world."
He also underscored the importance of balanced growth within the province. "Four cities — Cheonan, Asan, Dangjin and Seosan — account for 75% of the province's gross regional domestic product, 64% of its population and 58% of its businesses, and with advanced-industry investment concentrating there as well, I am concerned the gap between regions could widen further," he said. "Large-scale investment in advanced industries will be a very important opportunity to raise South Korea's future competitiveness."
Park placed particular emphasis on infrastructure. "To properly support AI and advanced industries, we absolutely need innovation in three areas — workforce, electricity and water," he said. "We must draw up a detailed roadmap covering the resources Chungnam currently holds, the demand ahead, the shortfalls and how to supply them, and respond at the speed of light."
He also called for an all-out effort to attract public institutions the province has targeted, including a consolidated headquarters for the five state-run power generation companies, agencies related to climate, energy and the environment, and the National Information Resources Service.
The province said it will continuously monitor progress on the tasks and systematically manage implementation and results for each one.
