Wanju 'Moak Women's Oriental Medicine Clinic Special Zone' Faces 15 Years of Difficulties... Administration Ignores

Business Owner: "We Will Resolve Infrastructure Independently" · Wanju-gun: "No Authority"

Space formerly used as the office of Moak Women's Oriental Medicine Clinic Special Zone

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hong Jaehee] The 'Moak Women's Oriental Medicine Clinic Special Zone Development Project' in Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk, is facing difficulties as it has not found a solution for project funding.

According to Wanju-gun on the 25th, the 'Moak Women's Oriental Medicine Clinic Special Zone Development Project' is a private investment project where private investors invest without national or county government support. Therefore, Wanju-gun only assists with administrative procedures and has no authority over whether the project proceeds.

Originally, Wanju-gun planned to revitalize the local economy by establishing the 'Moak Women's Oriental Medicine Clinic Special Zone' based on the region's traditional Korean medicine infrastructure to treat women's diseases such as infertility and osteoporosis.

Accordingly, the 'Moak Women's Oriental Medicine Clinic Special Zone Development Project' was announced as a regional specialized development zone by the Ministry of Finance and Economy on June 28, 2005. (Ministry of Finance and Economy Announcement No. 2005-14)

Moak Women's Oriental Medicine Clinic Special Zone Project Site

This specialized project was announced to be promoted by 2010 with a total project cost of 42.59 billion KRW (6.83 billion KRW from county funds, 35.76 billion KRW from private investment) on 144,870㎡ covering 62 plots at 179 Hangari Mountain, Guimyeon, Wanju-gun. Wanju-gun, as the overall project executor, was to establish infrastructure such as roads and sewage treatment plants.

However, the Moak Women's Oriental Medicine Clinic Special Zone Development Project faced difficulties due to controversies such as environmental damage and other issues. Although construction began in 2012, the project stalled due to difficulties in securing funding.

Moreover, as the initially promised infrastructure by Wanju-gun was not realized, the overall project executor was changed to a private business operator in 2016. For these reasons, the project period has been extended multiple times, but it is set to end by the end of this year.

Moak Women's Oriental Medicine Clinic Special Zone Project Site

Wanju-gun and the project executor explain that the Moak Women's Oriental Medicine Clinic Special Zone Development Project is progressing slowly due to its extensive scope.

Regarding this, a Wanju-gun official said, "The private investor plans to apply for an extension plan change around August to September," adding, "The administration has no authority to interfere whether to stop or continue the project, and if documents are submitted to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the decision will be made through review."

A Ministry of SMEs and Startups official stated, "If an extension application is submitted, it will be presented to the committee for review and carefully examined," adding, "Extension is difficult unless there are specific reasons."

In response, the project executor lamented, "Neither Jeonbuk Province nor the county is helping; they only criticize it as a poorly managed special zone," and added, "Since the initially promised infrastructure is being done by an individual, delays are inevitable."

They continued, "This is not simply about building a nursing hospital or an oriental medicine hospital," and added, "We plan to create a world-class theme park, so capital acquisition is delayed, but by changing the project executor, we are expanding and pushing forward the project."

Meanwhile, the designation of regional specialized development zones aims to support regional specialized development through various regulatory relaxations.

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