Gangwon-do Gov. Kim Jin-tae took office in a ceremony at the plaza of the provincial government building on July 8. Gov. Kim’s inauguration coincided with a ceremony to celebrate the 28th anniversary of Gangwon-do Residents’ Day.
Gov. Kim delivered his inaugural speech, in which he said Gangwon-do would be a “free land in which companies come in.”
The anniversary event took place for the first time in two years due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was designed to celebrate the parliamentary passage of the Act on the Designation of the Gangwon Special Self-governing Province, and mark the successful launch of the special self-governing province slated for next June.
Gangwon-do Gov. Kim Jin-tae gives his inaugural speech.
In his speech, Gov. Kim said, “I’ve proposed to President Yoon Suck-yeol the government’s support for the completion of the Gangwon Special Self-governing Province, and President Yoon promised to look into that matter with top priority.”
Gov. Kim pledged to make Gangwon-do “a new province, a free province, and a great province.” Gov. Kim said, “Where there is freedom, there are people, companies and trade, and a wind of economic freedom will brew from Gangwon-do and it will spread to all parts of Korea.”
“Even though we have so far turned only to the central government, it is the central government who does not know the reality of the province that has hindered the development of the province,” he said.
Gov. Kim said, “We’ve wasted too much time obtaining the go-ahead from the central government on things such as Osaek Cable Car and East-West High-speed Railway projects.” From not one, he said, it is up to the province to draw its future on its own and determine its destiny.
“The special self-governing province means freedom from the central government, and building of a free corporate environment through drastic regulatory reform, global education based on autonomy and creativity and preparing for the unification of the Korean Peninsula in accordance with freedom and human rights are the vision of the new special self-government autonomy era,” Gov. Kim said.
Gov. Kim declared a new Gangwon-do’s severance with corruption. Sweeteners and bribes are not only corruption, but also malpractices corrupt people’s awareness, he said.
All excuses, such as defeatism, easy-going attitudes, wasting tax money and secret back-room deals, will no longer exist in a new province, he added.
Lastly, but not least, he declared eliminating empty formalities and realizing of the dream of “an era of Gangwon-do in the Seoul metropolitan area” with the goal of raising the province’s population to 2 million and gross regional domestic product to 100 trillion won.
The Act on the Designation of the Gangwon Special Self-governing Province is to go into effect next June 11. It will make Gangwon-do a special self-governing province for the first time in 628 years.
Among those on hand at the anniversary event were Chairman Kwon Hyuk-yeol of the Gangwon-sdo provincial council, Superintendent Shin Kyung-ho of the Gangwon-do Education Office, Rep. Yoo Sang-beom, Rep. Noh Yong-ho and Rep. Huh Young.
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