Assemblyman Yoon Young-deok: "Caught Both Rabbits of Regional Development and Educational Issues"

Gwangju Secures Record National Budget of 2.8666 Trillion Won... Significant Portion of Education-Related Budget Confirmed

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] With the national budget for Gwangju Metropolitan City confirmed at a record high of 2.8666 trillion won, a significant portion of the national budget to address local educational issues has also been secured.

This is evaluated as the result of swift action by Representative Yoon Young-deok, the only member of the Education Committee from the Gwangju area.

The largest increase in the education budget was made to the early childhood education and childcare fee support project, raising the monthly early childhood education and childcare fee (Nuri Curriculum fee) by 20,000 won. As a result, the monthly fees for national and public kindergartens will increase from 60,000 won to 80,000 won, private kindergartens from 240,000 won to 260,000 won, and daycare center fees from 310,000 won to 330,000 won.

Approximately 34,000 children aged 3 to 5 in Gwangju receiving Nuri Curriculum support are expected to experience reduced financial burdens on their parents.

A considerable portion of the higher education budget aimed at national balanced development and strengthening the capabilities of local universities has also been confirmed.

A national budget of 16.9 billion won has been secured to foster social customized industry-academia cooperation leading universities (LINC+). This project, led by six universities including Chonnam National University, Chosun University, Honam University, Gwangju University, Chosun Institute of Science and Technology, and Seoyoung University, aims to cultivate customized talents who will lead future society and regional development. The expansion of customized curricula is expected to help alleviate student employment difficulties and corporate recruitment challenges.

The Gwangju-Jeonnam regional innovation platform project based on local government-university cooperation will invest 48 billion won of national funds to promote local talent development.

The Gwangju-Jeonnam regional innovation platform project is designed to overcome the crisis of local universities and achieve regional innovation through cooperation between local governments and universities. It supports forming cooperative relationships between universities and the region to nurture excellent talents and increase the settlement rate of youth in the area.

With the confirmation of the national budget to promote the new energy industry, Gwangju Nam-gu’s ‘Energy Valley’ will leap forward as a global smart energy hub.

National funds have been confirmed for the construction of the Energy Industry Convergence Complex Comprehensive Support Center (3.2 billion won), R&D support and market development for Energy Valley companies (8 billion won), among others, to ensure qualitative growth of Energy Valley.

Other national budget projects confirmed include 5.6 billion won for the construction of the Energy Valley (local) access road, 700 million won for the Energy Valley (national) access road, 1.9 billion won for establishing the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute’s Gwangju regional organization, 2.2 billion won for the Redox Flow Battery Testing and Certification Center, and 4 billion won for collaborative projects linked to public institutions relocated to the Innovation City.

Additionally, national funds have been secured for local residents’ long-awaited projects such as 400 million won for sewage pipeline maintenance in Songha-dong Ipha Village, 5.3 billion won for the construction of a metropolitan sanitary landfill, 7.3 billion won for the improvement of Daenam-daero road alignment, 2.28 billion won for the creation of the Advanced Realistic Content Cube, 2 billion won for the construction of Nam-gu Bandabi Sports Center, 3.1 billion won for Baegun Square urban regeneration New Deal, 670 million won for the construction of a parking lot at Wolsan-dong Community Center, and 550 million won for the construction of a parking lot at the Family Love Sharing Center.

Representative Yoon said, “Nam-gu Energy Valley will become a leading region of the Korean New Deal, responding to climate change, fostering the new energy industry, and opening the era of decarbonization. Through linkage with Korea Electric Power Corporation in the Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint Innovation City, we will establish an organic cooperative relationship with Gwangju City and related agencies to become a growth base for the new energy industry with economies of scale.”

He added, “Through close cooperation with Gwangju area lawmakers and sharing roles by standing committees, the largest-ever national budget for Gwangju has been confirmed as a result of our joint efforts for Gwangju’s development. As a member of the Education Committee, I will strive to ensure that the budget for the development of education and the region in Gwangju achieves tangible results.”

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