On May 3, a ceremony was held in commemoration of the opening of the Gyeonggi Province Family/Women Development Center, with many dignitaries attending, including the Minster of Gender of Equality. 

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office have made preparations for the center since the second half of 2002 following Mr. Sohn Hak-kyu’s inauguration as governor, collecting opinions from various people with the aim to develop policies for women that would befit the 21st century and implement sound family-related policies. 

In the self-congratulatory speech, Governor Sohn Han-kyu said that the center should play a central role in helping women with skills exert their capabilities to the full amid the current trend for the increase in the number of women engaged in hi-tech industries and the construction business and setting up examples of sound families so that the overall quality of life of people living in the province may be enhanced and the gender equality may take root more firmly. 

This year, the Gyeonggi Provincial Office adopted the slogan of happy family life as one of its main objectives and established the Family/Women-Related Policy Bureau. It also plans to establish the Healthy Family Supper Center, which will provide professional consulting services to those having family-related problems. 

The provincial office has increased the number of child-care facilities in industrial complexes and low-income household areas in an effort to help women be engaged in economic activities more freely, while making effort to enhance the quality of child-care services by providing financial support for teachers and children from low-income families and helping repair and renovate old facilities. 

Following the inauguration of Mr. Sohn Hak-kyu, the number of Grade-5 or higher women public officials also increased by 25. He has taken a series of steps to help women public officials compete with their male counterparts on an equal footing, including setting a quarter for women candidates for promotion. 

In addition, the provincial official has provided customized vocational training for women by investing 150 million won with the help of job consultants and development of special programs designed to train women job applicants.