Muan-gun pledges active cooperation on semiconductor complex development, raising expectations for accelerated military airport relocation
Muan-gun in South Jeolla Province, a preliminary candidate site for the relocation of Gwangju's military airport, has pledged active cooperation in developing a Honam-region semiconductor cluster.
Muan-gun County Chief Kim San has also agreed to attend a meeting of the relocation site selection committee — composed of the Ministry of National Defense, the special city authority and Muan-gun — raising expectations that the relocation process will gain momentum.
Kim issued a statement Tuesday welcoming the government's decision to designate the Gwangju military airport site as the location for the Honam-region semiconductor cluster project.
"The semiconductor industry is a core strategic sector that will determine South Korea's future competitiveness, and the creation of a Honam-region semiconductor cluster is a meaningful national project that will decentralize the advanced industrial base concentrated in the Greater Seoul area and achieve balanced national development," Kim said.
He said that if a semiconductor industry ecosystem is built around the Gwangju military airport site, it is expected to strengthen the industrial competitiveness of the entire southwestern region as well as the planned South Jeolla-Gwangju special city, while creating quality jobs, revitalizing the local economy and securing future growth engines. He added that he hopes the project will serve as a new development axis — linking Muan International Airport, regional transport networks and logistics infrastructure to foster growth in materials, components and equipment industries, as well as research and development, logistics and residential environments.
"I will actively cooperate to ensure this project goes beyond the development of a specific area and leads to the shared advancement of the South Jeolla-Gwangju special city and the mutual development of the southwestern region," Kim said. "I also hope the Gwangju military airport relocation issue will be pursued swiftly, in step with this national project and under the principle of mutual benefit."
Kim said he hopes to see concrete implementation plans take shape for what he described as three key demands: the prior relocation of Gwangju's civilian airport to Muan International Airport, 1 trillion won ($653 million) in support from the special city authority and the central government, and the provision of significant national-level incentives.
With Muan-gun agreeing to cooperate on the semiconductor cluster project, the formal designation of the candidate site is also expected to move forward more quickly.
Muan-gun had abruptly skipped a meeting held Tuesday to finalize the candidate site selection, then sparked controversy by announcing it would reconsider the military airport relocation unless its three preconditions were met.
Some had expressed concern that the relocation could be derailed by a dispute over the location of the main administrative office of the planned special city, but Kim's statement Tuesday made no mention of that issue.
The relocation site selection committee, made up of the Ministry of National Defense, the special city authority and Muan-gun, plans to hold a meeting soon to decide on the candidate site. Kim, who caused the previous meeting to collapse by not attending, is expected to participate this time.
After that, if public opinion is gathered and a referendum held, and the Muan-gun chief formally applies to host the military airport, the final site is expected to be confirmed this year.
"I will attend once the selection committee meeting is scheduled," Kim said. "I will actively work with county residents to find a reasonable solution for balanced national development and the mutual advancement of the southwestern region."
kkm9971@heraldcorp.com
