Civic group Jungdo Bonbu held a press conference Tuesday on the front steps of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province office, urging cancellation of the plan to relocate and build a new provincial headquarters in Goeun-ri and calling for a full re-examination of the site-selection process.
The group said Gangwon Province stated in an official document dated March 10, 2023, that rebuilding at the current site would cost about 350 billion won, while the ongoing Goeun-ri relocation project — on which construction was hastily commenced — is estimated at around 500 billion won, a gap the group said demands scrutiny of the project's costs and economic viability.
The group also noted that although Gangwon Province had claimed it conducted a comprehensive review of economic feasibility and other conditions for each candidate site, the province responded to the group's freedom-of-information request by indicating that no cost-review or comparative materials existed for sites other than the two final candidates.
Jungdo Bonbu also expressed concern over the relocation's potential impact on commerce, real estate and urban functions in Chuncheon's original downtown area, and urged the province to hold an open public hearing with the participation of Gangwon residents and Chuncheon citizens.
Immediately after the press conference, the group delivered a letter to Gangwon Province formally urging it to scrap the Goeun-ri relocation plan.
abc@heraldcorp.com
