Gangwon Province Makes All-Out Push for Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway, Urges KDI to Reflect Border Region's Unique Circumstances

Shin Woncheol, Economic Vice Governor, Visits KDI
Traffic Volume Rises 68% in Eight Years
Calls for Border Region's Unique Circumstances to Be Reflected

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province has asked the Korea Development Institute (KDI) to fully reflect tourism demand and the unique circumstances of border regions in the preliminary feasibility study for the Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway project.

Gangwon Province Economic Vice Governor Shin Woncheol visited the KDI Public and Private Infrastructure Investment Management Center on the 21st to explain the need to build the Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway to ease traffic congestion in border areas and promote balanced national development, and urged the center to give the proposal thorough consideration. The photo shows the access road to Sinbuk IC. Photo courtesy of Gangwon Province.

Shin Woncheol, Economic Vice Governor of Gangwon Province, visited the KDI Public and Private Infrastructure Investment Management Center on October 21 to explain the need to build the Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway to ease traffic congestion in border areas and promote balanced national development, and urged the center to give the project active consideration.

The project will connect Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, with Cheorwon County, Gangwon Province, over a distance of 24 kilometers, with a total project cost of KRW 1.3305 trillion. It was included in the second national expressway construction plan in 2022 and selected for a preliminary feasibility study in April 2025.

According to the province, traffic on National Route 43, which connects Pocheon and Cheorwon, rose by about 68%, from 18,747 vehicles in 2017 to 31,450 last year. The trip from Sinbuk Interchange (IC) to Cheorwon takes less than 30 minutes on weekdays, but more than 90 minutes on weekends, when tourist traffic surges.

The province expects that building the expressway would ease traffic on National Route 43 and shorten travel times between the Seoul metropolitan area and Cheorwon, reducing inconvenience for residents and easing travel burdens on tourists. It also emphasized that the project would ensure continuity along the North-South Corridor 4, part of the national trunk road network, and connect the Seoul metropolitan area with northern Gangwon Province.

The province also highlighted anticipated benefits from expanding the region's industrial and logistics infrastructure. It said that Pocheon's accessibility improved after the Guri-Pocheon Expressway opened in 2017, bringing positive changes to the development of industrial complexes and conditions for attracting businesses. The average occupancy rate across Pocheon's five industrial complexes is about 77%, while the Jangja and Geumhyeon industrial complexes are fully occupied.

The province expects that connecting Pocheon and Cheorwon, both selected as candidate sites for special peace economy zones, by expressway would boost their industrial and logistics competitiveness and help establish the special zones and promote ecotourism in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Deputy Governor Shin said, "The Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway is a key transportation link that will address the long-standing travel difficulties faced by residents in border areas, improve access to the Seoul metropolitan area, and support the regional economy and balanced national development. We will work closely with the relevant agencies to ensure that tourism demand, local conditions, and the unique circumstances of border areas are fully reflected in the preliminary feasibility study."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.