"Why Does the Preliminary Candidate Copy Local Government Projects?" Gijang-gun Reacts Strongly to 'Attracting Large Corporations' Pledge

The Dongnam Region Industrial Complex Project Owner, Gijang County, is Advancing Matters Confidentially

O Gyu-seok, Gijang County Governor, "They Lack Courtesy... Concerned That Disclosure May Disrupt the Project"

Busan Gijang County Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan's Gijang-gun reacted strongly to the regional project plans announced by a preliminary candidate for the Busan mayoral by-election.

On the 26th, Gijang-gun expressed strong regret over Park Seong-hoon's announcement of a plan to attract large corporations centered on the Southeast Radiation Medical and Science Industrial Complex.

It is known that Gijang-gun's project to attract large corporations to the Southeast Industrial Complex has been conducted confidentially since last July, following direct consultations between Busan city officials and the Gijang-gun governor during a visit to Gijang-gun.

Gijang-gun strongly pointed out that Park's recent announcement could pour cold water on the project's progress.

Gijang-gun had been establishing its own plans and conducting related research to revitalize the Southeast Industrial Complex and attract companies. They believe that this unilateral pledge announcement could cause confusion regarding the future direction of the industrial complex's operation.

The project to develop the Southeast Radiation Medical and Science Industrial Complex on a 1.48 million square meter (approximately 450,000 pyeong) site in the Jang-an-eup area of Gijang-gun is a key pledge of Gijang-gun Governor Oh Gyu-seok. Gijang-gun is investing 319.6 billion KRW of local government funds to promote this priority project.

Major national projects such as the new research reactor development project, heavy ion accelerator, radioactive isotope fusion research infrastructure, and power semiconductor industry cluster development are also underway there.

Since this is a high-tech industrial complex developed with a massive amount of public funds, Gijang-gun points out that projects pursued without prior consultation or consent from Gijang-gun could become misleading 'empty promises' to voters.

Governor Oh Gyu-seok stated, "No matter how much treasure you bring, you need the landowner's consent to bury it. Announcing it as a pledge without prior consultation or consent from Gijang-gun is disrespectful to the residents of Gijang-gun."

He added, "We agreed in principle to keep the large corporation attraction project confidential while discussing it with Busan city. However, a preliminary candidate running for the Busan mayoral by-election announced as his number one pledge that he would attract Samsung to the Gijang-gun Southeast Radiation Medical and Science Industrial Complex. This act pours cold water on the large corporation attraction strategy."

He also criticized, "Isn't this just copying a pledge project without even basic courtesy?"

Preliminary candidate Park Seong-hoon previously served as Busan's Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs and recently declared his candidacy in the ruling party People Power Party's Busan mayoral primary.

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