Gangwon FC tells Chuncheon no home games next season, angering residents of provincial capital

Gangwon FC, led by CEO Kim Byung-ji — who apologized only a year after remarks disparaging Chuncheon sparked controversy — has told the city it will not hold any home matches there next season, drawing bewilderment and anger from residents of the Gangwon Province capital.

Chuncheon said Monday it had received notice from Gangwon FC that hosting home matches during the 2027-2028 season would not be possible, expressing regret and calling for continued dialogue.

In a press release issued that day, the city said it had "done everything possible to attract Gangwon FC home matches, maintaining until the very end its intention to host games in Chuncheon in the second half of the 2027 season and even submitting a letter of intent." It added that it had "consistently maintained the position that matters requiring review by the local government should be decided through sufficient prior consultation rather than unilateral acceptance."

The city said the specific mandatory conditions in Gangwon FC's letter of intent for the 2027-2028 season were confirmed during a four-party consultative meeting on July 21. After that, Chuncheon requested working-level discussions and conveyed its position that specific issues — including match scheduling, a four-party joint agreement, stadium naming rights, and administrative and fiscal support for sports facilities — should be settled through detailed negotiations.

The city said it ultimately submitted a final letter of intent clearly expressing its willingness to host games in the second half of the 2027 season, while stipulating that mandatory conditions would be determined through future negotiations based on the circumstances and operational requirements of Chuncheon's Songam Sports Town stadium complex. "However, Gangwon FC treated our position of 'deciding matters through mutual consultation' as a failure to meet the mandatory conditions and ruled out holding home matches in Chuncheon," the city said.

A city official said Chuncheon had repeatedly requested consultations aimed at mutual benefit for the 2027-2028 season home matches, and that the mandatory conditions proposed by the club "are matters directly tied to facilities used by residents, and therefore must be preceded by prior consultation and legal and institutional review."

The official added that "even if the mandatory conditions proposed by the club represent rights linked to its revenue-generating activities, if those conditions concern a public facility managed by Chuncheon, sufficient consultation and review with the facility's managing authority is essential."

The city said its regret over the notification ran deep, as it had continued negotiations until the very end in the hope that residents would be able to watch and cheer for the team close to home.

Residents expressed stronger emotions than the city's measured response, openly voicing outrage and disbelief.

"Does it make any sense that the province's representative club cannot play even a single home match in the provincial capital?" some said. Others were more pointed: "They apologized a year late for remarks disparaging Chuncheon — how many days has it even been since that apology? How can they pull something like this?"

A city official said Chuncheon and its residents had cheered for Gangwon FC wholeheartedly, and expressed hope that "rather than this incident escalating into unnecessary conflict between the two sides, a healthy opportunity will be created for Chuncheon residents and Gangwon FC to come together again, based on mutual respect and open communication."