Yeongcheon mayor vows to lure Korea Racing Authority HQ as city's new growth engine

"We will focus the full force of city administration on attracting the Korea Racing Authority headquarters, using the Yeongcheon Racecourse — set for its official opening in September — as our springboard. Through this, we will make Yeongcheon the center of South Korea's horse industry and a new growth hub for North Gyeongsang Province."

Yeongcheon Mayor Kim Byeong-sam made the remarks Tuesday afternoon during an interview at his office, adding that relocating the Korea Racing Authority headquarters to Yeongcheon would transform the city into the nation's horse-industry capital and create a new engine of growth.

Kim also laid out the broader blueprint for his ninth directly elected term, covering plans to nurture future industries, attract the Korea Racing Authority headquarters, address youth employment and population policy, advance smart agriculture, and revitalize culture and tourism.

The following is an edited transcript of the interview.

— What is the core governing philosophy of your ninth directly elected term?

The starting point of this term is the citizens. Our slogan — "Our life's name is Yeongcheon" — reflects our commitment to placing residents' lives at the center of city governance. Under the philosophy that citizens' happiness is Yeongcheon's future, every policy and budget will be directed toward improving quality of life. I will visit the field before the office and listen to citizens' voices before reading reports. The diverse opinions I heard from small-business owners, young people, farmers, parents and seniors during the campaign will be actively reflected across all areas of city administration. The most important measure of any policy will not be its scale or budget, but how much change citizens actually feel in their daily lives.

— How do you plan to put citizen-centered governance into practice?

Governance is something built together with citizens. We will go beyond simply listening to residents and move toward participatory administration that actively incorporates their input into policy. The basic principle is to go directly to the scene, identify inconveniences firsthand and resolve them quickly. By communicating constantly with citizens, we will build a city government that works through problems together — from small everyday frustrations to the major policies that will shape the region's future.

— What are your plans to revitalize the local economy and stem the outflow of young people?

▶ We will upgrade Yeongcheon's core industries — auto parts and machinery — into future-mobility sectors. Yeongcheon Hi-Tech Park will be developed into a hub for future mobility and advanced manufacturing, and we plan to establish industrial complexes for future mobility and the K-defense industry to actively attract top companies. By building an industrial ecosystem linking research and development through production to exports, we will create quality jobs and make Yeongcheon a city young people do not want to leave. Population policy will also be significantly strengthened. "Yeongcheon — a city that takes responsibility for children up to 100 million won" will be a flagship policy, providing lifecycle support from birth through age 18 covering education, childcare, healthcare and culture. We will also expand after-school care, provide public postpartum care subsidies and improve the educational environment. For young people, we will expand quality jobs linked to industrial complexes, public rental housing supply and startup support to build a foundation for stable settlement.

— What does the Yeongcheon Racecourse, set to open in September, mean for the city?

▶ On Saturday I visited the Yeongcheon Racecourse to inspect the site ahead of a trial race held in preparation for circuit racing. The racecourse, scheduled to open in September, represents a new growth opportunity for Yeongcheon. The city already possesses a core piece of Korea Racing Authority infrastructure in the form of a large-scale racecourse. Now we must connect the opening of the racecourse to local economic revitalization, job creation and the development of the horse industry — and go further by attracting the Korea Racing Authority headquarters to create a new growth engine for Yeongcheon. To that end, the city has designated the Korea Racing Authority relocation as a flagship project of the ninth directly elected term and will pursue a joint bid with North Gyeongsang Province, advancing step by step through working-level consultations and candidate site reviews.

— I understand you have been working particularly hard to attract the Korea Racing Authority headquarters.

▶ If the Korea Racing Authority headquarters relocates to Yeongcheon, the city can grow into the new national center of the horse industry — attracting related institutions and companies around the racecourse, training specialized personnel and expanding research and education functions. I see this not simply as the opening of a new tourism facility, but as the starting point for Yeongcheon's leap to become the hub of South Korea's horse industry. This is not a project for Yeongcheon alone; it is a strategic undertaking to secure a new growth engine for North Gyeongsang Province and achieve balanced regional development. Going forward, we will strengthen a joint cooperation framework with the province for the Korea Racing Authority headquarters bid while forming a pan-civic promotion committee, organizing a citizen signature campaign, building shared support across all 22 cities and counties in North Gyeongsang Province, and coordinating with local political circles on policy. We will pool our strength with the province, local politicians and civil society to expand the Yeongcheon bid into a province-wide civic movement. Recently I met with North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo and agreed to jointly pursue the Korea Racing Authority headquarters relocation to Yeongcheon. We will build a close cooperative framework with the province and make sure we deliver results.

— What is your direction for agriculture and culture and tourism policy?

Agriculture must also be developed as a future industry. We will expand smart orchard complexes and smart environmental control systems for livestock, and establish an agricultural product processing support center to shift from production-focused farming to a high-value-added industry that links processing, retail and exports. We will continue to expand smart farms for young farmers and provide stable settlement support so that young talent can build their futures in rural areas. Culture and tourism are another growth engine for Yeongcheon. We will pursue the construction of a Yeongcheon K-pop dome to develop the cultural content industry, and connect the tourism influx from the Yeongcheon Racecourse opening to the revitalization of local commercial districts. We will also accelerate the development of a stay-based tourism city by linking the Bohyeonsan tourism belt with wine, traditional medicine and historical and cultural resources, securing a tourism edge that is uniquely Yeongcheon's.

— Finally, is there a message you would like to share with citizens?

▶ The ninth directly elected term must be four years that change citizens' lives. To build a city where residents are happy, young people return and companies invest, I will prioritize action over words and deliver change that citizens can feel. I will repay trust with results, not promises. Citizens must always be at the center of governance. I will listen to their voices first, deliver tangible change and lead Yeongcheon into a new era of growth. The support and participation of our citizens is Yeongcheon's greatest strength. I will be a mayor who looks in the same direction as the citizens and walks the same path. Through a city government judged by its results, I will open a new future for Yeongcheon.