Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, "Daegu and Gyeongbuk's survival depends on the integrated new airport"

At the Executive Meeting on the 23rd: "This Is a Wartime Situation... All Administrative Efforts Focused on Gunwi and Uiseong Agreement"

On June 9, Park Jae-min, Deputy Minister of National Defense (left), and Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, are having a conversation regarding the selection of the site for the relocation of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk integrated new airport.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongwook Park] "The current situation is like a state of war. Whether Daegu and Gyeongbuk live or die depends on the construction of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Integrated New Airport. If this is not resolved, the governor cannot be free from responsibility."

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, expressed strong determination to resolve the regional conflict related to the construction of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Integrated New Airport on the 23rd, describing the situation as a "state of war."

At an expanded executive meeting held that day with department heads, heads of affiliated organizations, and heads of invested and supported institutions, Governor Lee pledged, "By July 3rd, before the (Ministry of National Defense) Selection Committee meeting, we will mobilize all administrative power to ensure that Gunwi and Uiseong counties reach an agreement and that the project is carried out without fail."

Currently, the Ministry of National Defense, the project authority, has effectively decided on the joint candidate site (Uiseong Bian and Gunwi Sobo), which won the residents' vote, as the final site. Gunwi County still insists on the sole candidate site (Ubo), but the Ministry of National Defense refuses to discuss it, stating that the Ubo area is unsuitable.

If things continue as they are, Gyeongbuk Province judges that at the Pre-Selection Committee meeting on June 26 (chaired by the Deputy Minister of National Defense) and the Selection Committee meeting on July 3 (chaired by the Minister of National Defense), Gunwi County's sole candidate site (Ubo) will be deemed "unsuitable," and the joint candidate site will be "inappropriate" due to a single application, making it highly likely that the project will be canceled.

Gyeongbuk Province plans to use all possible measures and rally public opinion during the remaining 10 days until the Pre-Selection Committee meeting to lead Gunwi County to submit a "Sobo attraction application" through comprehensive persuasion efforts.

First, the strategy is to induce agreement between Gunwi and Uiseong counties by presenting a vision for joint development of Gunwi and Uiseong after the new airport. Last week, a mediation plan was prepared through discussions with the Ministry of National Defense and Daegu City and delivered to the two local governments.

The mediation plan includes ▲civil aviation terminal and auxiliary facilities ▲construction of 2,500 military off-base housing units ▲1 million pyeong aviation clusters each in Gunwi and Uiseong ▲new airport IC and airport access roads ▲east-west through roads in Gunwi ▲attraction of city and provincial government employee training facilities. Separate incentives apart from the airport construction, which is expected to involve tens of trillions of won, are also proposed to emphasize mutual development and further highlight the opportunity for integrated development of Daegu and Gyeongbuk.

Meanwhile, on the 23rd, Governor Lee Cheol-woo appealed through a cooperation letter related to the integrated new airport relocation sent to about 300 institutions and organizations in the province, saying, "Now, the choice is only between joint development or project cancellation," and urged, "This is a New Deal project to recover the regional economy after COVID-19 and the only and last chance for Daegu and Gyeongbuk to leap forward. We ask for the interest and support of the citizens of the city and province so that the integrated new airport can be promoted promptly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.