Yeongcheon mayor inspects racetrack park ahead of September opening

Yeongcheon Mayor Kim Byeong-sam on Tuesday visited the city's Let's Run Park racetrack to inspect preparations ahead of its Sept. 13 opening, continuing his push to relocate the Korea Racing Authority's headquarters to the city.

Kim received a briefing from park officials on construction progress and opening preparations, then toured key facilities including the grandstand and racecourse.

"This is not simply the opening of a new tourism facility — it is the starting point for Yeongcheon's leap to become the center of the domestic horse industry," Kim said. "If the Korea Racing Authority relocates its headquarters to Yeongcheon, we can build the most efficient operating structure, with the public institution and its core business site in one place."

He added that Yeongcheon already holds the Korea Racing Authority's core infrastructure in the form of a large-scale racetrack park. "We must now connect the benefits of the park's opening to revitalizing the local economy, creating jobs and developing the horse industry — and beyond that, attract the Korea Racing Authority's headquarters to create a new engine of growth for Yeongcheon," he said.

The city has designated the bid to relocate the Korea Racing Authority as a flagship project of the current municipal administration and is pursuing a joint campaign with North Gyeongsang Province through working-level consultations and reviews of candidate sites.

Going forward, Yeongcheon plans to strengthen its joint relocation cooperation framework with North Gyeongsang Province while concentrating administrative resources on the bid. Planned measures include forming a pan-civic promotion committee, launching a citizen petition drive, building support across all 22 cities and counties in the province, and coordinating with local political circles on policy.

"Attracting the Korea Racing Authority's headquarters cannot succeed on Yeongcheon's efforts alone," Kim said. "We will join forces with North Gyeongsang Province, local politicians and civil society to expand the Yeongcheon bid into a movement embraced by all citizens and residents of the province."