Wonju City proposes to attract high-tech medical complex and Gangwon Institute of Science and Technology and relax special provisions for large cities

Attracting a high-tech medical complex and Gangwon Institute of Science and Technology... Relaxation of special provisions for large cities is also suggested.

(Wonju = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Bo-yeon = Gangwon-do Wonju City announced that it held a meeting with officials of the National Assembly Research Service on the 4th and discussed ways to resolve regional imbalances and balanced development.

At this meeting, the city explained major issues for sustainable growth, such as attracting a high-tech medical complex and the Gangwon Institute of Science and Technology, and easing special requirements for large cities, and requested institutional improvement and policy support.

In particular, it was suggested that special requirements for large cities should be relaxed in order to smoothly promote the relocation of secondary public institutions in connection with the Gangwon region's 'AI and Clean Industry Innovation Base' and lay the foundation for growth.

He also emphasized the need to create conditions in which medical data held by public health and medical institutions, such as the National Health Insurance Corporation and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, can be used for local industry development.

As there are restrictions on the use of private medical data due to various regulations, a plan to apply special regulatory exceptions to the Wonju region was also proposed.

The city explained the strengths of Wonju's growth as a hub city in the central inland region and a center for the medical device industry.

Based on this, he said that a high-tech medical complex should be created and the Gangwon Institute of Science and Technology should be attracted to nurture medical industry talent, thereby creating a virtuous cycle of talent training and regional settlement.

After the meeting, we visited the 22nd Gangwon Medical Equipment Exhibition (GMES 2026) to look at the growth potential of the local medical equipment industry and companies.

Next, officials from the National Health Insurance Corporation and the Gangwon Innovation City Development Support Center met to hear on-site opinions surrounding the relocation of public institutions and the development of the innovation city.

Wonju Mayor Koo Ja-yeol said, “We will continue to work closely with the National Assembly to ensure that local issues lead to effective legislation and national policies.”