The South Jeolla Province-Gwangju integrated special city has officially told Nam-gu that Songam Neighborhood Park — the district's proposed site for a Gwangju branch of the National Assembly Library — has no remaining land available and cannot be linked to a private park development project currently underway there.
According to Rep. Jeong Jin-uk's office, the city responded to a data request from the lawmaker asking whether any land remained at Songam Neighborhood Park after accounting for existing park and non-park facilities. The city replied flatly: "There is no remaining land."
The city also addressed a separate question raised in a site-review report that Nam-gu prepared in September, which examined Songam Neighborhood Park as a candidate location for the National Assembly Library branch and asked whether the project could be linked to the ongoing private park development. The city said such a linkage was not possible.
The private park development project at Songam Park is scheduled to be completed in October next year. The city said that while further steps could be explored after completion, any change to the park development plan would first require review by the urban park committee, along with environmental and traffic impact assessments.
A research project commissioned by the National Assembly Secretariat through the Public Procurement Service to study the establishment of a National Assembly Library branch — including a review of candidate sites — is set to run for 10 months and is expected to wrap up in July next year.
Rep. Jeong's office said the city's official response made clear that Songam Neighborhood Park, located at San 16-1, Songha-dong, Nam-gu, was not a viable candidate site for the Gwangju branch of the National Assembly Library at this stage. The office called on Nam-gu to listen to residents and recommend the former veterans' hospital site as the strongest and most competitive location for the library branch.
sij@heraldcorp.com
