Provincial Assembly Member Choi Byung-yong Urges Inclusion of Jeolla Line High-Speed Rail in National Plan

Choi Byung-yong, Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] The Jeonnam Provincial Council announced on the 18th that it adopted the "Proposal to Urge the Inclusion of the Jeolla Line High-Speed Railway in the National Plan," which was introduced by Representative Choi Byung-yong (Democratic Party of Korea, Yeosu 5) at the 346th extraordinary session plenary meeting.

This proposal calls for the mandatory inclusion of the Jeolla Line High-Speed Railway construction project in the "4th National Railway Network Construction Plan," which will be implemented next year, urging balanced national development and the elimination of regional disparities.

Since 2016, the government has been promoting the "National Railway Network Construction Plan," a 10-year plan updated every five years, to establish a nationwide high-speed railway network, expand facilities in transport bottleneck areas, form a high-speed railway logistics network, and build a railway-centered integrated transportation system.

Once the Jeolla Line High-Speed Railway is completed, it is expected to connect Jeonnam, Gyeongnam, and Busan in conjunction with the government's ongoing Southwest Coast Tourist Road construction project, fostering the entire South Coast as a new national growth engine.

However, despite the high-speed upgrade project scheduled for 2012, the Jeolla Line still takes over three hours from Seoul to Yeosu, earning the reputation of being a "high-speed railway in name only."

Representative Choi Byung-yong stated, "National infrastructure projects should be based on balanced national development to resolve polarization between urban and peripheral areas and reduce regional disparities, but only Jeolla Line users have been suffering time and financial losses."

He added, "The construction of the Jeolla Line High-Speed Railway is a very important task that can overcome the unipolar system by dispersing the metropolitan-centered economic zone to the southern economic zone through the promotion of human and material exchanges beyond the regional level."

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