Sixty-six members of the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city council and local municipal and district councils on Monday urged Democratic Party of Korea party leader candidate Kim Min-seok to include the West Coast Railway and Gwangju's new industrial line in the fifth national railway network construction plan. The petition drew 17 members of the integrated special city council and 49 local council members.
The West Coast Railway would connect Mokpo to Gunsan via Muan International Airport and the cities and districts of Hampyeong, Yeonggwang, Gochang, Buan and Saemangeum.
Gwangju's new industrial line is a freight railway that would link the Gwangju Research and Development Special Zone, the Jingok, Hanam and Pyeongdong industrial complexes, Gwangju Songjeong Station, the Bitgreen National Industrial Complex, the future vehicle national industrial complex and Yeonggwang.
The lawmakers said the West Coast Railway is "a key line that will connect the industry, tourism and logistics of the West Coast region into a single economic axis and, by linking with the Honam and Gyeongjeon lines, improve access between Gwangju, South Jeolla Province and the Yeongnam region." They added that the new industrial line is "essential infrastructure to strengthen the logistics competitiveness of advanced industry clusters — including future vehicles and semiconductors — and to expand business investment."
"We strongly urge that the construction of the West Coast Railway and the Gwangju new industrial line be included without fail in the fifth national railway network construction plan," they said.
sij@heraldcorp.com
