The Citizens' Coalition for Military Airport Relocation Petitions for Enactment of the 'Special Act on Military Airport Relocation' Within the Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The "Gwangju Military Airport Relocation Citizens' Promotion Council (Chairmen Chae Ilbyung and Yang Jinseok)" petitioned together with civic groups from Suwon and Daegu to ensure that the amendment bill to the "Special Act on Military Airport Relocation and Support" is legislated within this year.

The Promotion Council announced on the 17th that on the 16th, they delivered the petition to Han Kiho, Chairman of the Legal Review Subcommittee, Representative Hwang Hee, Kim Tae-nyeon, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, the Secretariat of National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok, Representatives Kim Jin-pyo, Kim Myung-jin, Park Byung-joo, Lee Yong-bin, Kim Hoe-jae, Ahn Kyu-baek, and Cho Kyung-tae.

Through the petition, the "Military Airport Relocation Citizens' Coalition" stated, "Military airports are military facilities, and the relocation project is a national task for strengthening defense capabilities," adding, "It is not a matter to be left solely to local governments as one of President Moon Jae-in's 100 key tasks, and a leading role by the National Assembly is required through legal review of the limitations of current laws."

They also argued, "The stable financial and project implementation is uncertain due to the 'donation in exchange for transfer' method led by the local government of the former site for large-scale military facilities," and "In the case of Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province, although the Minister of National Defense notified the selection of a 'preliminary relocation candidate site' in February 2017, progress to the next stage has not been made due to opposition from Hwaseong City."

Furthermore, they stated, "Gwangju Metropolitan City received a notification of 'appropriateness' from the Ministry of National Defense in August 2016 regarding the feasibility evaluation for relocation, but even after four years, a preliminary relocation candidate site has not been selected," and "Daegu Metropolitan City's integrated new airport relocation also selected and announced the final relocation site as Uiseong and Gunwi in North Gyeongsang Province, but efforts are being made to amend laws for national support beyond the 'donation in exchange for transfer' method to ensure smooth project progress."

The three cities submitted three amendment bills to the "Special Act on Military Airport Relocation" during the 20th National Assembly, and four amendment bills (three to the National Defense Committee and one to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee) are currently pending in the 21st National Assembly's National Defense Committee.

Meanwhile, the Military Airport Relocation Citizens' Coalition is a group jointly responding to the military airport relocation, formed on December 14, 2018, by the "Integrated New Airport Daegu Citizens' Promotion Group," the "Military Airport Relocation Suwon Citizens' Council," and the "Gwangju Military Airport Relocation Citizens' Promotion Council," sharing the sincere wish of citizens in the three regions to promptly advance the military airport relocation.

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