Zero Traffic Accidents: How Jang Shin-sang Plans to Transform Hwaengseong into Korea’s Safest City

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Hoengseong — Esther Park, a reporter for Energy Economy News, reports: Jang Sin-sang, a candidate for Hoengseong county mayor, unveiled a safety platform focused on making Hoengseong a “zero-traffic-accident city” for National Safety Day, formally launching a people-centered campaign frame.

On the 17th, Jang said, “Safety is not a choice but a basic right. I will make Hoengseong the No. 1 safety zone where everyone can live without fear.”

The platform responds to the area’s rapid aging by prioritizing protection for seniors and other vulnerable road users and by advancing traffic-accident prevention measures. It targets persistent rural problems such as a shortage of sidewalks and safety blind spots on local roads.

During his previous term as Hoengseong county mayor in the seventh local government, Jang opened five sidewalks on rural roads, introduced in-road LED signal lights, and held a launch ceremony for the “Safe No. 1 Hoengseong, Livable Hoengseong” initiative—efforts that expanded safety infrastructure and promoted a culture of safety.

He outlined three core pledges: expand safety infrastructure, build an advanced disaster-response system, and pursue international safety-city certification.

To strengthen rural traffic safety, he proposes expanding sidewalk construction and installing smart safety features—such as in-road LED signal lights—in high-traffic areas to better protect vulnerable road users.

He also plans to introduce an AI-based system to predict landslides and collapse risks and to create a smart evacuation-alert service for disaster-vulnerable groups, establishing a proactive disaster-response framework.

Jang said he will comprehensively build the infrastructure to prevent traffic accidents and other disasters, pursue ISCCC international safety-city certification, establish an integrated safety network involving local agencies, and set up a sustainable safety-management system.

“Hoengseong has a high proportion of elderly residents, so the harms from traffic accidents are concentrated in certain groups,” Jang said. “Through community-focused policies that protect vulnerable road users, I will realize a city without traffic accidents.”

Drawing on his experience expanding sidewalks and implementing safety policies during his previous term, he added that he will build a more systematic safety city, making Hoengseong a better place to live and a city people want to visit.

Earlier, on the 13th, Jang unveiled a “Humanities Healing Tourism Belt” centered on Cheongil-myeon, intensifying competition over tourism pledges.

The proposal seeks to shift away from facility-centered development toward a “stay-oriented tourism model” that combines storytelling and hands-on experiences. It centers on three main offerings—the Deodeok Festival, an independent film festival, and the Taegiwang legend trail. The Deodeok Festival would act as economic programming to boost local agricultural consumption; the independent film festival would attract outside visitors; and the Taegiwang forest trail would offer experiential content to encourage longer stays and repeat visits. The strategy aims to move tourism from “see-and-go” to “stay-and-experience.”

Notably, because the Deodeok Festival has been held on the riverside outskirts—raising concerns about accessibility and weather risks—he proposed moving it to central Cheongil and creating a culture-and-sports park. That shift could direct visitor spending to restaurants, cafes, and markets, amplifying the festival’s local economic impact.

He also proposed an independent film festival in Goshiri, the setting for the film My Dear, Don’t Cross That River, attempting to convert emotional, place-based content into a tourism asset—a move seen as a differentiator.

Combining Taegisan Mountain and the Taegiwang legend into humanities-and-healing tourism content aligns with recent trends toward storytelling and stay-oriented tourism, making the concept promising.

However, critics note that the stay-oriented model will require concrete implementation plans—on funding, infrastructure design, and operations—before it can yield measurable results.

Jang said, “I will turn Cheongil’s deodeok and historical-cultural assets into South Korea’s premier humanities-healing tourism content.”

Esther Park, Reporter ess003@ekn.kr