Gangwon assembly deputy speaker calls out province's declining PR scores

Gangwon Province accounts for just 3 percent of South Korea's total population, yet its communications approach stands out among local governments for its heavy emphasis on content aimed squarely at residents within the province.

The result is that information about Gangwon rarely reaches the other 97 percent of the country. Nationally oriented media channels receive little attention, and the distribution of content that could resonate with audiences outside the province remains limited.

That insularity has left Gangwon's public image stuck in an outdated mold — the old mountain-and-ski-resort stereotype — while the province's present-day dynamism goes largely unnoticed. Even when news does trickle out to the rest of the country, content tailored for a Gangwon-only audience is unlikely to appeal to a national readership.

With its population share so small, the province should be reaching outward more aggressively. Yet with a few notable exceptions among its 18 cities and counties, most local authorities continue to rely heavily on Gangwon-based media, Gangwon-focused social media accounts, and informal information networks among people with ties to the region.

The consequences are predictable. Gangwon's profile rises only when a tourism hotspot happens to go viral. As long as the province maintains its closed communications posture, it risks an image decline and stagnation that would run directly counter to Governor Woo Sang-ho's broader ambitions.

History offers no shortage of examples showing that insularity breeds irregularities and erodes the very integrity that Governor Woo and Education Superintendent Kang Sam-young have been so vocal about promoting.

The Gangwon Special Self-Governing Provincial Council recently delivered a sharp rebuke over the province's declining PR performance.

Jeong Jae-ung, deputy speaker of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Provincial Council and a member of its Administrative and Culture Committee, reviewed the "provincial image and brand enhancement PR effectiveness" performance indicator during a recent audit of the 2025 fiscal year accounts under the spokesperson's office. He called for a thorough analysis of why results had fallen from the previous year and demanded that an improvement plan be drawn up.

According to the provincial council, the spokesperson's office recorded a score of 69.5 points against a target of 69.5 points for the "provincial image and brand enhancement PR effectiveness" indicator in 2025, achieving a 100 percent attainment rate. That figure represents a drop of 3.5 points, or roughly 5 percent, from the 73 points recorded in 2024.

"It is difficult to conclude that PR performance was sufficient simply because the 100 percent target was met," Jeong said. "Since the score has fallen from the previous year, we need to identify precisely which factors drove that decline."

He also asked how each of the three underlying metrics — image favorability, advertising content favorability, and intent to visit — are measured, and said the council must verify whether the survey results faithfully reflect the actual perceptions of the general public, including Gangwon residents.

Reviewing the 2026 performance targets and progress to date, Jeong said the indicators should not serve merely as figures showing whether a numerical target has been met. "We need to develop a PR strategy that uses survey findings to genuinely raise the province's image and brand value," he said.