Muan civic group calls for written guarantees before military airport relocation vote

A civic coalition in Muan-gun called Wednesday for the government to put in writing three key preconditions and a support package before holding a residents' vote on relocating Gwangju's military airport to the county.

Mangun-myeon in Muan-gun was designated last month as the candidate site for the relocation of Gwangju's military airport. The local government head is set to apply to the Ministry of National Defense to host the military airport based on the outcome of a residents' vote scheduled for October.

The Pan-County Citizens' Committee for Responding to the Relocation of Gwangju Military Airport to Muan said the relocation "is a critical matter that will affect the lives of Muan residents and the region's future for a long time to come," adding that "a residents' vote must not be pushed forward without sufficient information and substantive support measures." The group demanded that the government, before any vote, present concrete implementation plans and timelines for what it called three essential preconditions: the priority transfer of Gwangju's civilian airport to Muan International Airport, 1 trillion won ($739 million) in support, and the creation of a national industrial complex.

The committee also said it supports a thorough inspection and necessary repairs of the Muan International Airport runway, but stressed that airport safety issues and the military airport relocation must be treated as separate matters. It called on the government to release the runway inspection results and reopening plans transparently, and to clearly lay out the timeline for previously announced measures, including the transfer of Gwangju's civilian airport.