Residents and Experts Unite to Attract Korea National University of Arts to Songpa-gu

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[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) newly formed the ‘Korea National University of Arts (KNUA) District-wide Attraction Promotion Committee’ on the 17th, consisting of cultural artists, urban planning experts, and others, to expand consensus and build a support base.

The relocation of KNUA had been stagnant for several years, but it recently gained momentum after the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism commissioned a related research project (Study on the Basic Concept and Expansion Plan of the Korea National University of Arts Campus) in May this year.

Accordingly, the district expanded the ‘KNUA District-wide Attraction Promotion Committee,’ which includes figures from various fields, to strengthen the relocation efforts. The newly formed committee adds local experts from various sectors to the existing committee, which was originally composed of members of the National Assembly, city and district councilors, and residents since April 2017.

The promotion committee includes a total of 42 members such as ▲ National Assembly member Nam In-soon ▲ Professor Gong Soon-gu of Hongik University’s Department of Architecture, who led the Eunpyeong-gu Korean Literature Museum attraction project ▲ and Ahn Yong-gyu, President of Korea National Sport University.

Through these experts, the committee plans to establish attraction strategies for each field and work on forming a consensus by raising public opinion among local residents in favor of attracting KNUA.

At the appointment ceremony, National Assembly member Nam In-soon emphasized, “The candidate site for relocation in Songpa-gu is a long-term unexecuted urban management facility. While development pressure has recently increased, Seoul City is considering creating an urban forest, so attracting the university could be the most rational alternative.”

Korea National Sport University President Ahn Yong-gyu stated, “We plan to establish a Performing Arts Department within the university next year, and if KNUA is attracted in the future, the synergy effect through facilities and talent linkage is expected to be very significant,” expressing strong cooperation.

Currently, the district proposes the area around ‘445-11 Bangi-dong’ as the relocation site for KNUA.

This area possesses all three strengths of Songpa: ▲ diverse cultural infrastructure ▲ excellent transportation accessibility ▲ environmentally friendly location conditions, and it is expected to create a strong synergistic effect with KNUA upon relocation.

In particular, about 90% of current students wish to relocate to Songpa-gu, and compared to candidate sites proposed by other local governments, the land acquisition cost is advantageous. However, since the area is managed as a development-restricted zone, active negotiations with Seoul City are underway regarding its release.

To this end, the district plans to emphasize that ‘attracting KNUA’ is the most rational alternative that can reconcile Seoul City’s opposition, especially as the government recently announced the necessity of reviewing the release of the greenbelt in the Seoul area.

Songpa-gu Mayor Park Seong-su said, “We have newly reorganized the district-wide attraction promotion committee to devote ourselves to attracting KNUA’s relocation,” adding, “Based on the attraction strategies of experts in each field and the full support of residents, we will accelerate efforts to attract KNUA.”

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