Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province (Governor Woo Sang-ho, hereinafter referred to as the "Province") announced that the "2026 Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Youth Day Celebration Event," held in the Taebaek city area for two days from Friday, September 18 to Saturday, September 19, successfully concluded with the participation of approximately 300 youths and officials from related organizations across the province.

Held under the theme of "Connecting Gangwon, Embracing Taebaek," this year's event unfolded as a participatory festival where youths took center stage, serving as a platform for communication and exchange where local governments and the community harmonized together.

Key program details included: △ a "Local Content Tour" allowing participants to experience the charms of clean Taebaek; △ the Youth Award and Letter of Appreciation presentation to honor and encourage youths who have contributed to regional community development; and △ the "Youth Communication and Empathy Concert," serving as a venue for communication, exchange, and harmony among youths.

In particular, the Local Content Tour garnered enthusiastic responses from youths, with applications for about 130 participants closing within just one week of recruitment.
This year's Youth Awards in the individual category were presented to △ Kim So-min (Wonju, Korea Rural and Fishing Village Network) and △ Ahn Kwang-ryeol (Chuncheon, Mass Wave) CEO, while the institutional/group category went to △ Co-op Pan (Chuncheon) and △ Yangyang Youth Cooperative (Yangyang). In addition, a letter of appreciation was awarded to Jeon Jeong-hoon, President of the Taebaek Junior Chamber.

At the Youth Communication and Empathy Concert, the Provincial Economic Bureau Director and the Vice Mayor of Taebaek directly answered questions from youths on-site, sharing real-time communication.

Seo Dong-min, President of the Gangwon State Economic Promotion Agency, stated, "As an organization operating both the Gangwon Youth Center and the Taebaek Youth Center, this commemorative event where we breathed alongside the youths was all the more meaningful," adding, "We will do our utmost to ensure that the voices of provincial youths lead to practical support projects in the future."

Kim Moon-ki, Director-General of the Economic Bureau of Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, emphasized, "Moving away from conventional, standardized formats, this Youth Day celebration event became a platform of harmony where provincial youths could directly enjoy and interact," adding, "We will spare no policy efforts to make Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province a place where youths can stay and grow together."

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