Out-of-province contracts surge at Gangwon provincial office despite push for local construction

Amid a deepening slump in Gangwon Province's construction sector, the value of government contracts awarded by the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province to out-of-province firms has surged — even as provincial authorities have repeatedly pledged to revitalize the local construction industry.

The trend has drawn criticism that the provincial government is moving in the opposite direction from what residents want: priority given to local firms, at least for contracts issued by the provincial office and city and county governments within Gangwon Province, whether as prime contractors or subcontractors.

The value of contracts awarded to out-of-province firms in just the first eight months of this year has already exceeded the full-year total for last year.

According to administrative audit materials submitted to Gangwon Provincial Assembly lawmaker Eom Ki-seong by the provincial administration bureau, out-of-province firms won a total of 775 government contracts worth 30 million won ($22,400) or more between 2024 and the end of August this year — a span of two years and eight months. The combined contract value reached 537.4 billion won.

Breaking the figures down by year, out-of-province contracts totaled 262 cases worth 100.84 billion won in 2024, 303 cases worth 192.68 billion won in 2025, and 210 cases worth 243.88 billion won in the first eight months of this year.

"Even when an out-of-province firm takes the prime contract, the local economy can still benefit if provincial firms participate as joint contractors or subcontractors," Eom said, urging the provincial government to systematically track local firms' participation in joint contracting and subcontracting arrangements and to develop measures that expand their practical opportunities to take part.

This year's out-of-province contract value has already exceeded last year's full-year figure by 26.6 percent — surpassing the entire 2025 total in just eight months.

Breaking down this year's out-of-province contracts by category, construction work accounted for 182.34 billion won, or 74.8 percent of the total, followed by goods procurement at 31.32 billion won and services at 30.22 billion won.

At Thursday's administrative audit of the provincial administration bureau, Eom said that while out-of-province firms may be unavoidable for large-scale projects or those requiring specialized technology, "there is a problem if contracts are being awarded to outside firms even for projects that local firms are fully capable of handling." Eom called on the province to carefully verify the reasons for selecting out-of-province firms on a project-by-project basis and to assess in advance the construction capacity of local firms and their ability to participate in bidding.