[Interview with a 9th-term local leader] Andong Mayor Kwon Ki-chang: 'I will usher in Andong's spring — and complete the foundation for the next 100 years'

"If the past four years were about laying the groundwork for Andong's future growth, the next four years will be about turning that foundation into tangible results — in jobs, income, housing, welfare, healthcare and transportation — that citizens can feel in their daily lives."

Re-elected Andong Mayor Kwon Ki-chang sat down with The Herald Business on Wednesday, roughly two months into his ninth-term mandate, and said he would place "citizen-felt results" at the heart of his administration.

Kwon framed his governing standard as "only Andong, only citizens," saying he would build a city where residents can genuinely feel that "things have really changed," grounded in co-prosperity, execution, tangible impact and inclusion.

To that end, he said he is working tirelessly to translate the growth foundations laid during his eighth term into concrete results. Those foundations include becoming the first local government in the country to secure three special-zone designations, winning preliminary feasibility approval for the Andong Bio-Life National Industrial Complex, and achieving a partial lifting of the natural environment conservation zone around Andong Dam. The following is an edited transcript of the interview.

— What will change most under your ninth-term administration?

I believe the mandate is to sustain the momentum of change and development that began over the past four years and to complete it as results that citizens can actually feel. During the eighth term, we made meaningful progress on long-standing issues that had gone unresolved for years, and we received the top rating in campaign-pledge fulfillment assessments for four consecutive years. Now the task is to connect that growth foundation to citizens' lives — raising jobs and incomes, and delivering change that people can feel across housing, welfare, healthcare and transportation.

— The Andong Bio-Life National Industrial Complex is central to your plans. What is your strategy for attracting companies and creating jobs?

A national industrial complex does not succeed simply by preparing the site. We need to build an industrial ecosystem where competitive companies and good jobs come in, and where universities, businesses and young people grow together. We will expand investment incentives centered on Andong's strengths in the biotech and vaccine industries and actively pursue quality companies. By linking local universities, businesses and public institutions, we will develop the talent companies need right here in the region and create a virtuous cycle in which young people study, find employment and settle in Andong. We will also expand startup infrastructure, including an AI convergence youth startup innovation valley. Alongside housing policies such as the 1,000-won youth housing program and strengthened cultural and lifestyle infrastructure, we will develop the national industrial complex into a future-industry hub where companies, talent, research and development, and jobs converge.

— What is your strategy for making tourism a driver of the local economy?

The challenge for Andong tourism is to shift from a city people pass through to a city where they stay and spend. Andong has unrivaled cultural assets — World Heritage sites including Hahoe Village, Dosanseowon, Byeongsanseowon and Bongjeongsa, as well as the Hahoe mask, head-family clan culture, mask dance, Seonyu Julbulnori fire-on-the-water festival, traditional food and traditional liquor. We will combine these with new content such as the Jungangseon 1942 Andong Station cultural tourism town, the Woryeonggyo waterfront performance venue and media facade, and expand accommodation infrastructure including large hotels. The partial lifting of the natural environment conservation zone around Andong Dam is also a new opportunity — we will develop the waterfront into a new growth space where tourism, leisure and culture come together. The number of tourists is not the goal in itself. What matters is getting visitors to stay one more day, visit one more place and spend money in the region, so that the benefits spread across the local economy — traditional markets, restaurants and lodging. That is the foundation of an Andong that welcomes 10 million tourists.

— How will you address population decline and the outflow of young people?

Youth outflow and the low birth rate cannot be solved by a single jobs policy or a single housing policy. Jobs, housing, childbirth and childcare support, healthcare, education and culture all need to improve together. We will link regional strategic industries — biotech and vaccines, cultural tourism, agri-food and digital content — to youth employment, and push to supply 100 units of 1,000-won youth housing. Through a public postpartum care center, a low-birth-rate ALL-CARE center and shared childcare centers, we will strengthen a lifecycle support system covering pregnancy and childbirth through postnatal care and childcare. Rather than asking young people to stay in Andong, I believe the role of government is to create the conditions in which they can work, live, marry and raise children here.

— What changes will citizens feel particularly in healthcare, welfare and transportation?

By attracting a national medical school, we will develop Andong into a healthcare hub for northern North Gyeongsang Province. We will improve access to healthcare and essential medical services while laying the groundwork for the biotech, vaccine and medical industries to grow together. To ease the cost of living, we will pursue half-price tap water, half-price transportation for elementary, middle and high school students, and energy welfare policies. We will also strengthen an integrated care system that delivers the right services at the right time to citizens who need support — seniors, people with disabilities, children, young people and households in crisis. We will continue pushing for the Central Inland Railway connecting Mungyeong, the provincial government new town and Andong; a circular metropolitan rail network linking West Daegu, the integrated new airport and Andong; and the widening of national highways 34 and 35. We will also expand the Haengbok Taxi service to improve mobility in rural areas.

— How do you want to be remembered by citizens?

It would be the greatest reward if, four years from now, citizens say: "Andong really changed during the ninth term, and my life got better." I will build an Andong where companies and quality jobs multiply, young people nurture their dreams of growth, children's laughter fills the streets, and cities and rural communities grow together. The walls of reality may be high, but that is no reason to stop. If something is necessary for Andong's future and its citizens, I will keep searching for a way to make it happen, no matter how many say it cannot be done. I will uphold "only Andong, only citizens" as my governing standard to the very end. I want to be remembered as a mayor who proved his promises to citizens with clear results, and as a mayor who opened the path to Andong's next 100 years — completing policies across industry, jobs, tourism, healthcare, transportation and welfare as results that citizens can feel in their lives, and growing Andong into a leading growth hub not just for North Gyeongsang Province but for the whole country. I will usher in "Andong's spring" — a season that all citizens can enjoy together.