Chungcheongbuk-do announced that it received the Minister of the Interior and Safety Commendation for its smart village project at the '2026 Balanced Growth Project Best Practices Awards Ceremony and Performance Presentation', hosted by the Presidential Committee for Age of Local Autonomy and Decentralization on Wednesday the 21st.

Hosted by the Presidential Committee and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), the event was designed to encourage institutions and contributors that achieved outstanding results among specially accounted balanced growth projects and to share best practices. The ceremony was attended by around 200 people from government ministries and related organizations, including Park Jung-hyun, Chairperson of the Presidential Committee for Age of Local Autonomy and Decentralization, and Lee Jae-han, Special Advisor for Political Affairs of Chungcheongbuk-do.

Chungcheongbuk-do’s initiative—the 'Smart Village Distribution and Expansion Project (Danyang-style K-Smart Senior Center: A Reliable Digital Fence for Seniors)'—received high praise for overcoming geographical and spatial limitations with advanced ICT technology and establishing an inclusive digital welfare model.

Chungcheongbuk-do installed 75-inch smart boards and two-way video systems in all 160 senior centers across Danyang-gun. By connecting these centers to a base studio, the province provided real-time cultural, administrative, and medical guidance programs, as well as voice phishing prevention education, achieving a remarkable 97.1% resident satisfaction rate.

Won Gil-yeon, Head of the Information and Communications Division of Chungcheongbuk-do, stated, "This award is the culmination of our efforts to provide practical welfare benefits using advanced technology to elderly residents who previously had low welfare accessibility due to geographical conditions." He added, "Moving forward, we will expand the Chungcheongbuk-do-style smart balanced growth model province-wide so that all residents can enjoy high-quality digital welfare and administrative services without being left behind."

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