Cheongsong-gun launches task force to attract new correctional facility

Cheongsong-gun in North Gyeongsang Province held a launch ceremony Wednesday for a task force aimed at attracting a new correctional facility, with about 40 people attending at the Jinbo-myeon Administrative and Cultural Center, including members of the Jinbo-myeon village chiefs' council and heads of local civic organizations.

The ceremony was organized to build a local foundation for the bid and broaden public support in response to the Ministry of Justice's open call for site nominations for a new correctional facility.

The task force adopted a formal petition calling for Cheongsong-gun to be selected as the site, urging the ministry to weigh the county's 45 years of cooperation with national correctional administration since the Cheongsong Protective Custody Center opened in 1981, along with local residents' acceptance, links to existing correctional facilities, living conditions and transportation access.

The group particularly cited the county's cooperation in housing 345 COVID-19-positive inmates at North Gyeongsang's Northern No. 2 Prison during the 2020 pandemic as evidence of Cheongsong-gun's contribution to national correctional administration.

The task force plans to actively promote the county's locational strengths and the case for attracting the facility, while continuing outreach efforts including building broader public consensus and submitting recommendations to relevant authorities.

Earlier, the Cheongsong County Council voted unanimously at its 291st extraordinary session on Oct. 7 to approve an application for the site selection call and adopted a resolution urging that Cheongsong-gun be chosen.

"We will continue working alongside residents to actively highlight Cheongsong's strengths and its track record of contributing to national correctional administration, so that the new facility can be secured here," Cheongsong County Chief Yun Gyeong-hui said.