South Chungcheong Province seeks public input on social welfare policy

South Chungcheong Province is gathering input from residents and experts to shape its social welfare policy agenda for the next four years.

The province held a public hearing Tuesday at the provincial government's main conference room, with about 100 people in attendance, including residents, welfare specialists and municipal civil servants. The event focused on drafting the sixth regional social security plan, covering 2027 to 2030.

The hearing was organized to share the plan's key strategies and detailed projects and to collect a wide range of opinions from residents and experts in order to strengthen the plan's completeness and feasibility.

Since April, the province has been analyzing the outcomes and limitations of the fifth regional social security plan, incorporating findings from a regional social security survey and area-specific welfare needs into the drafting of the sixth plan.

The draft outlines policy directions aimed at improving residents' quality of life, including building an AI-based welfare safety net, strengthening integrated care and health coverage across life stages, expanding employment and residential support for self-sufficiency, broadening access to culture, leisure and social participation, and preventing crises and social isolation.

At the hearing, Oh Jeong-a, a researcher at the South Chungcheong Social Service Agency, presented the progress of the sixth plan's development and outlined the direction of its seven core strategies, along with key initiatives — 35 projects in the social security sector and 29 in balanced regional development.

A panel discussion followed, moderated by Lee Jae-wan, a professor at Gongju National University, with participation from Kim Yun-young, a professor at Jeonbuk National University; Kim Geun-tae, a professor at Korea University; Kim Min-jeong, director of the Dangjin City Family Support Center; and Park Gwi-won, chair of the South Chungcheong Regional Social Security Council. The panelists discussed the plan's validity and effectiveness, as well as approaches to social security policy that reflect local characteristics.

Attendees exchanged views on improving regional social security services and addressing gaps in welfare coverage during a question-and-answer session, and took part in a survey on their preferences for key strategic tasks and priority projects.

The province plans to comprehensively analyze the policy proposals and improvement suggestions raised at the hearing, review their feasibility and policy validity, and incorporate the findings into the final version of the sixth regional social security plan.

Gu Sang, director of the province's AI Basic Society Health and Welfare Office, said the hearing was a meaningful occasion to collectively shape South Chungcheong's future social security policy through the voices of residents and field experts. "We will carefully review the opinions presented and faithfully reflect them in the plan to build a highly effective regional social security system that residents can truly feel," he said.