150,000 sign petition urging passage of aerospace city bill

South Gyeongsang Province joined forces with the Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special city, Sacheon and Goheung-gun on Monday to hold a pan-national rally in front of the National Assembly, demanding that a special bill to establish an aerospace complex city be placed on the agenda of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's legislation subcommittee Wednesday and passed by the full Assembly before year's end.

About 500 people attended the rally, including South Gyeongsang Province Governor Park Wan-su, Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Deputy Mayor for Economy and Industry Kang Myung-su, Sacheon Mayor Park Dong-sik, Goheung-gun County Chief Gong Yeong-min, bill co-sponsors People Power Party lawmaker Seo Cheon-ho and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Moon Geum-ju, as well as provincial and municipal council members, members of regional associations based in Seoul, and residents of Sacheon and Goheung.

The rally was organized to press for the bill's subcommittee review this month and a full Assembly vote before year's end. The Special Act on the Construction and Support of an Aerospace Complex City, introduced in December last year, had sat in legislative limbo for 11 months without being placed on any agenda. Participants held pickets and chanted slogans, saying the aerospace industry is a core strategic sector that determines national security and the country's competitiveness in advanced industries.

Seo, who represents the Sacheon-Namhae-Hadong constituency, made the bill his first legislative priority upon entering the 22nd National Assembly. He subsequently held two policy forums and led the formation of an aerospace-focused lawmakers' study group within the Assembly. To address criticism that the bill benefited only one region, Seo teamed up with Moon, whose constituency covers Goheung in South Jeolla Province, to revise and jointly introduce the measure as a bill promoting mutual development between the Gyeongsang and Jeolla regions.

In his opening remarks, Seo said frustration on the ground was running high because a bill to create the residential conditions and industrial ecosystem needed to support the Korea AeroSpace Administration — which opened in Sacheon to lead the country's aerospace industry for generations to come — had failed to clear the Assembly for 11 months. "The ruling and opposition parties must cooperate across party lines, using Wednesday's subcommittee review as a springboard, and enact the law before the year is out — only then can we protect the golden window for the nation's advanced industries," he said.

Governor Park also urged the Assembly and the government to act, saying at the rally that South Korea could not afford to miss the moment because of legislative delays while major advanced nations competed to dominate the aerospace industry. "We must combine Sacheon's research, development and manufacturing capabilities with Goheung's launch infrastructure to achieve east-west harmony and balanced national development at the same time," Park said.

According to South Gyeongsang Province and others, the bill aims to address the limitations of the current urban development law framework, under which Sacheon serves as the project operator and the provincial government grants approval. The proposed legislation would convert the project into a nationally led comprehensive development initiative under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It also includes provisions to exempt the project from preliminary feasibility studies and to establish a legal basis for central government funding. Additional special provisions cover the establishment of an aerospace-focused campus and support for attracting and operating foreign educational institutions, state-funded research institutes, advanced companies and general hospitals.

After the rally, Governor Park, the heads of local governments from the Gyeongsang and Jeolla regions, Seo and Moon met separately with Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do, Land Committee Chairman Yoo Eui-dong and People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik to deliver a petition signed by 150,000 residents from the two regions.

The bill is set to be taken up Wednesday at the Land Committee's second legislation subcommittee session as agenda items 20 and 21, where it will be reviewed jointly with a bill introduced by lawmaker Park Dae-chul. South Gyeongsang Province and Seo's office said they would continue pressing the Assembly and the government until the legislation is enacted.