Hong Young-pyo's Reason for Visiting Gwangju: "Not for Party Leader Election, but Because of Military Airport Issue"

As Chairman of the Truly Good Local Government Committee, "The Government Must Take the Lead in Military Airport Relocation"

Representative Hong Young-pyo (Chairman of the Committee for Better Local Government) is holding a press conference on the issue of military airport relocation at the Gwangju Metropolitan Council on the 5th.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Hong Young-pyo, a member of the National Assembly (Incheon Bupyeong-eul) who challenged the Democratic Party of Korea's party leader position, visited Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 5th as the chairman of the party's permanent organization for local autonomy, the ‘Chamjoeun Local Government Committee’.

At around 1:30 PM that day, Rep. Hong held a press conference at the Gwangju City Council and said, “I did not come to Gwangju for the purpose of the Democratic Party leadership election, but to address the local issue of military airport relocation.”

He emphasized, “The government should prepare a plan for military airport relocation through more active opinion gathering and seek ways to proceed with the relocation accordingly.”

He also argued, “The current military airport relocation method based on donation and concession cannot fundamentally solve the problem,” and “We need to find ways to consolidate military airports within the scope that does not undermine the purpose of the military airport relocation.”

He continued, “There are 12 military airports nationwide,” and explained, “Since relocating military airports requires enormous budgets, considering the comprehensive defense reform 2.0 initiated during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, exploring consolidation is also necessary.”

He added, “Of course, when consolidating military airports, we must find comprehensive measures that do not impair military operational capabilities or national security.”

At the end, he said, “Next year, which includes the presidential election, is an important year for the Democratic Party,” and “Before the presidential election, conflicts and frictions between candidates and their supporters during the primary process are inevitable, so it is important to find ways to stabilize that.”

He further mentioned, “For the Moon Jae-in administration, which has just over a year left, to succeed, overcoming the COVID-19 crisis and solving economic problems are essential,” and “Therefore, it is important to support the success of the Moon administration.”

Earlier that day, at a meeting held at the office of the Gwangju Military Airport Relocation Citizens Promotion Council, Rep. Hong emphasized, “The current military airport relocation project method relying only on local governments only causes regional conflicts between Gwangju and Jeonnam,” and “The central government should actively resolve the issue by forming a pan-government consultative body.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party leadership election scheduled for May 9 is expected to be a three-way contest among lawmakers Song Young-gil, Woo Won-shik, and Hong Young-pyo.

The newly elected party leader will lead the party until August next year, completing the remaining term of the current leader Lee Nak-yeon. Both the presidential election in March and the local elections in June next year will be held under the new party leadership system.

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