Alert messages about elderly dementia patients going missing have become a near-daily occurrence across South Korea, and the affected age groups appear to be getting younger. For many families, finding a trustworthy care facility for an aging relative is no easy task — but households in Chuncheon now have one less worry.
Pyeonganhan Deul ("Peaceful Garden"), Chuncheon's first city-run nursing home dedicated exclusively to dementia care, opened Wednesday at 1925-31 Youngseo-ro in Seoksa-dong.
Built by the local government, the facility offers families the assurance of public accountability. With its opening, Chuncheon has expanded its specialized care infrastructure for elderly residents with dementia and strengthened the city's broader network of dementia prevention and community-based support.
Pyeonganhan Deul is a public care facility established to provide professional services to elderly dementia patients and ease the burden on their families. It is separate from the existing Chuncheon City Nursing Home and marks the first city-run facility in Chuncheon dedicated solely to dementia care.
The city invested a total of 15.4 billion won ($11.5 million) to construct the building, which spans one below-ground floor and two above-ground floors with a total floor area of 3,101 square meters.
Construction began in November 2024 and was completed in April this year. Social Welfare Foundation Dongbu Diakonia will operate the facility.
The facility comprises a nursing home with a capacity of 100 residents and a day-and-night care center with a capacity of 40. The nursing home has already begun operations, while the day-and-night care center is being prepared with a target opening of 2027. Once that center opens, the facility's support is expected to extend to elderly residents living at home.
Chuncheon has long pursued dementia prevention and management through its Dementia Care Center, running programs that include early screening, high-risk group monitoring, cognitive enhancement, case management for dementia patients, missing-person prevention and support for families of dementia patients.
The city currently operates two dementia-friendly villages — in Geodu 2-ri, Dongnaemyeon, and in Sinsawoo-dong — offering dementia awareness education, early screening and prevention programs.
The city has also introduced smart tags that allow real-time location tracking for elderly residents at high risk of wandering or going missing, strengthening its missing-person prevention efforts. In Toegye-dong, the city has run cognitive and physical health programs — including cognitive screening and health exercises — targeting high-risk dementia patients and elderly residents living alone.
Chuncheon said it will continue linking prevention and care services to help elderly residents with dementia live safely in the communities they know.
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