Pohang City Removes Fence at 'Hwajin Beach'... "Full-Scale Discussion on Military Facility Removal"

Formation of Civil-Government-Military Win-Win Development Council, Future Detailed Operation Plans to Be Discussed

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] On the 12th, Pohang City carried out the demolition of the fence at the Army Hwajin Training Ground with about 40 attendees including residents of Songra-myeon, the Army's 50th Division, and Pohang City officials.

The block fence was approximately 513 meters long and about 3 meters high, with barbed wire and fences extending about 405 meters. It was installed with cement bricks and wire mesh along the 9-meter-wide village road in Hwajin-ri, Songra-myeon, outside Hwajin Beach.

A representative of the Songra-myeon Development Council said, "The news of the fence removal at the military-occupied Hwajin Beach returning to the residents after 38 years is a meaningful event marking a historic milestone," adding, "We hope that Hwajin Beach in Songra will be fully developed in the future and become a major pillar of the local tourism industry."

Pohang City plans to promptly form a public-private-military consultative body, sign a win-win agreement for the development of Hwajin Beach, and actively discuss the demolition of military facilities.

A Pohang City official stated, "Starting with the fence removal, the public, private, and military sectors will mutually consult to discuss the demolition of the remaining military facilities and the development of the beach in earnest," expressing high expectations that "this will greatly help marine tourism and regional development, which had been halted due to military base restrictions."

Meanwhile, the Army's 50th Division has been using 114,870 square meters within Hwajin Beach as a shooting training ground and other military facilities since June 1982. Excluding city-owned land and public waters, the Ministry of National Defense owns 26,000 square meters.

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