Gangwon and Gyeonggi join forces to secure feasibility approval for Pocheon-Cheorwon expressway

Gangwon and Gyeonggi provinces have agreed to combine their efforts to win preliminary feasibility approval for the Pocheon-Cheorwon expressway, a major transport project in South Korea’s border region.

Gangwon Governor Woo Sang-ho and Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae signed the agreement on September 4 at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building. Lawmakers Han Ki-ho and Kim Yong-tae, Pocheon Mayor Baek Young-hyun and Cheorwon County Governor Kim Dong-il also attended, along with other agencies involved in the project.

The agreement seeks to bring together the participating institutions and submit a joint recommendation urging the government to move the project forward quickly. The expressway forms part of the proposed fourth north-south corridor and would run 24 kilometers, at an estimated cost of 1.3305 trillion won.

The project entered the second national expressway construction plan in 2022. The Korea Development Institute has conducted the preliminary feasibility study since April last year, with its findings due in October.

Cheorwon currently takes 41.3 minutes to reach a highway interchange, more than twice the national average of 16.8 minutes. Its road paving rate is 70.8%, well below the national average of 94.8%.

Traffic on National Route 43, which connects Cheorwon with the capital region, rose from 18,847 vehicles in 2017 to 31,450 last year, an increase of about 67%. Weekend congestion can push travel times above 90 minutes.

Gangwon officials estimate that the new expressway would reduce travel from Cheorwon toward the capital region from 50 minutes to 15 minutes. They also expect improved access for tourists and stronger logistics competitiveness for companies and industrial parks. Officials point to five industrial parks completed in Pocheon after the Guri-Pocheon expressway opened in 2017 as evidence of the economic effects of better access.

Woo said the road was more than a local connection. He described it as a national project that would address poor transport conditions in the border region, link the capital area with northern Gangwon and support balanced regional development and a peace economy.

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The Pocheon-Cheorwon expressway is not simply a local road, but a national project that will improve poor transport conditions in the border region, connect the capital area with northern Gangwon and lay the foundation for balanced regional development and a peace economy. We will mobilize all our capabilities with the relevant institutions to secure feasibility approval and quickly advance the project.