Geochang-gun Southern Inland High-Speed Railway Promotion Committee Meeting Held

Difficult to Understand Exclusion of Haeinsa Station
Gaya Mountain, Haeinsa, Likely to Belong to Gyeongbuk Province, Not Gyeongnam

Holding a meeting of the Geochang-gun Southern Inland High-Speed Railway Promotion Committee (Photo by Geochang-gun)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Geochang County in Gyeongnam announced on the 15th that it held a meeting of the Southern Inland High-Speed Railway Promotion Committee in the county office situation room to discuss issues regarding the exclusion of Haeinsa Station from the draft strategic environmental impact assessment of the Southern Inland High-Speed Railway.

At the meeting, co-chairmen including Gu In-mo, Geochang County Governor, Kim Jong-du, Chairman of the County Council, An Cheol-woo, Chairman of the Arim Arts Festival, as well as promotion committee members Kim Il-su and Kang Cheol-woo, provincial councilors, and county officials attended to discuss the progress and future measures.

Since May 2019, the county has formed the Geochang County-Haeinsa Joint Promotion Committee to attract Haeinsa Station, conducting visits to Gyeongnam Province, promotional activities, and visits to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Railway Facilities Corporation, strongly asserting the necessity of Haeinsa Station on the Southern Inland High-Speed Railway.

Despite these efforts, the exclusion of Haeinsa Station from both Alternative 1 and Alternative 2 in the draft strategic environmental impact assessment has been met with difficulty in understanding by the 70,000 residents of Geochang County.

At the meeting, the committee members argued that since the Southern Inland High-Speed Railway is a national project aimed at balanced national development, Haeinsa Station must be established in the Yaro-myeon area to attract tourists visiting Haeinsa, home to the Tripitaka Koreana and numerous national treasures and cultural assets, thereby creating new growth engines and promoting regional balanced development.

The Southern Inland High-Speed Railway Geochang County Promotion Committee is pursuing solidarity measures with Haeinsa, Goryeong County, Yaro and Gaya-myeon, and plans to submit Geochang County’s opinions on the route to Gyeongnam Province and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Governor Gu In-mo stated, “If Haeinsa, which attracts one million tourists, is excluded from the Southern Inland Railway stations, the railway will be reduced to a line serving only the South Coast tourism,” adding, “I hope a route that can revitalize the culture, tourism, and regional economy of northwestern Gyeongnam will be decided.”

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