Muan-gun chief calls for written guarantees before military airport relocation vote

Muan-gun Chief Kim San said Tuesday that he would put the relocation of Gwangju's military airport to Muan to a public vote — but only after the government formally commits its promises in writing.

Muan-gun has set out three preconditions for accepting the relocation: the prioritized transfer of Gwangju's civilian airport to Muan, 1 trillion won ($736 million) in support funding, and the provision of national-level incentives.

The Defense Ministry designated an area around Mangun-myeon in Muan-gun as the candidate site for the Gwangju military airport relocation in August.

The Defense Ministry, the metropolitan city and Muan-gun have formed a TF to discuss support plans for areas surrounding the relocation site, but the parties have yet to narrow their differences.

As a result, a public vote planned for October or November is expected to be delayed.

South Jeolla-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City Mayor Min Hyeong-bae directed officials at an integrated situation review meeting Tuesday to form a special task team to ensure the vote takes place before the end of this year.

"We are not opposed to the military airport relocation — we are upholding the principles we promised our residents," Kim said. "We welcome the Gwangju semiconductor cluster and will develop Muan into a semiconductor hub so we can grow together."

"Once the government's commitments are put in writing, we will faithfully seek the will of our residents and open a new century for Muan together with them," Kim added.