Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop Visits National Assembly After Five Days to Secure National Funding

An Il-hwan, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Meets Successively with Park Hong-geun and Chu Kyung-ho, Budget Committee Whips

On the afternoon of the 23rd, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, visited the National Assembly Main Building in Yeouido, Seoul, and held a meeting with Chu Kyung-ho, the Budget and Accounts Committee Whip of the People Power Party, to request an increase in national funding support for major ongoing projects. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, continued his extensive efforts to secure national funding by visiting the National Assembly again on the 23rd, just five days after his visit on the 18th.

On this day, Mayor Lee met with Ahn Il-hwan, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and also met with Park Hong-geun, the Democratic Party floor leader of the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee, and Chu Kyung-ho, the People Power Party floor leader, to request budget inclusion for major regional issues.

Mayor Lee asked Vice Minister Ahn Il-hwan for government-level attention and support for six projects, including ▲ the AI Integrated Complex’s development project for AI learning datasets in three major industries ▲ applied science technology development and infrastructure construction.

He also met separately with Park Hong-geun and Chu Kyung-ho of the National Assembly Budget Committee to explain major regional issues such as ▲ the establishment and settlement support of government-designated win-win regional jobs ▲ the foundation project for fostering an eco-friendly air industry, and actively requested cooperation to reflect these in next year’s budget.

Additionally, he actively proposed the inclusion of national funding for 10 projects, including ▲ 10 billion KRW support for infrastructure to build AI learning datasets and train data analysis and processing experts in major industries (automobile, energy, healthcare) linked to the Gwangju AI Integrated Complex ▲ 4 billion KRW support for creating a hub space to utilize idle spaces owned by the Jeondang as places for nurturing artistic talent and education ▲ 2 billion KRW support for design costs for early expansion of Gwangju Songjeong Station to improve convenience for railway passengers following the surge in users after the opening of the Honam High-Speed Railway.

Meanwhile, Gwangju City actively pursued national funding activities focusing on core investment projects such as future growth engine businesses and the Korean New Deal, which are government financial investment directions responding to the post-COVID-19 era. As a result, it secured a record-high government budget of 2.7638 trillion KRW across 315 cases, a 14% increase (338.8 billion KRW) compared to this year.

Mayor Lee said, “Even in the severe situation of COVID-19, we cannot stop preparing for Gwangju’s future,” adding, “We will do our best to secure national funding so that the achievements of the past two years can lead to job creation and revitalization of the local economy that citizens can feel.”

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