Kim Young-rok, Democratic Party preliminary candidate for Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City mayor, announced plans to expand public postpartum care centers—his signature policy during his tenure as South Jeolla Province governor—throughout Gwangju.
"Demand is growing in Gwangju for affordable, quality postpartum care services," Kim said on the 16th. "We will first establish and operate one public postpartum care center in each district of Gwangju."
Public postpartum care centers currently operating in eight locations including Haenam, Gangjin, Wando, Naju, Suncheon, Gwangyang, and Yeosu offer two-week stays at approximately 1.6 million won. The facilities provide postpartum recovery and newborn care services. Vulnerable groups and multicultural families can access services for 500,000 to 800,000 won.
At less than half the cost of private facilities (3-5 million won) with higher service quality, applications have surged to the point where some people relocate their registered addresses to qualify. Approximately 7,000 mothers have benefited from the program to date.
Kim also pledged to upgrade the public postpartum care center system by operating "integrated doctor ambulances" for high-risk mothers and newborns across the special city. Specialists from Gwangju's tertiary hospitals would provide telemedicine and regular rounds at public postpartum care centers in outer South Jeolla regions.
For low-income pregnant families unable to use public postpartum care centers, Kim promised to provide postpartum care vouchers and expand the "pregnancy family health manager dispatch program," currently a South Jeolla provincial initiative.
Kim aims to raise the total fertility rate—currently 0.76 in Gwangju and 1.10 in South Jeolla (national average 0.8 as of late 2025)—to 1.3 by 2030 through comprehensive support covering marriage, childbirth, and childcare.
"The low birthrate problem affecting regional and national sustainability is a public challenge that must be solved by government and communities, not individuals and families," Kim said. "Building on the results of marriage, childbirth, and childcare support policies implemented so far, I will create a Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City where anyone can confidently have and raise children."
