[Interview] Gu In-mo, Geochang County Governor: "Geochang International Theater Festival Will Revive as the Best Stage This Summer"

The 'Quick Fixer' Role That Made the 'Geochang Legal Town' with Detention Center, Branch Office, and District Prosecutors' Office Possible

Gu In-mo, Mayor of Geochang County.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] “I sincerely thank the residents who trusted and followed me and the 700 public officials so that the three major local issues could be thoroughly resolved over the past two years and six months.”

At the point of passing the midpoint of the 7th elected term with 1 year and 4 months remaining, on the 8th, Gu In-mo, the mayor of Geochang County, appeared full of confidence for having resolved the long-standing issues that had been the source of local conflicts.

The three major local issues that had long caused division and conflict in the community were ▲the construction of Geochang Detention Center ▲the relocation of Geochang Branch and Geochang District Office within the Legal Town ▲and the normalization of the Geochang International Theater Festival.

In a media interview held immediately after his election on June 13, 2018, he pledged to “wipe everything clean from this moment on and dissolve repetition and conflict into communication and harmony,” showing his determination to solve these three issues.

Now, two years and eight months later, Mayor Gu is being evaluated as having kept his promise of “Greater Geochang Leap, Era of Resident Happiness,” which he announced at his inauguration.

- After residents voluntarily attracted the 'Legal Town,' unexpectedly the detention center followed, and in the 2010s, it was said that the Geochang area lost sleep over this issue...

“We went through a painful, dark tunnel for about six years, but on the other hand, I feel great reward in that the value of the residents' referendum, created by the mature democracy of the residents, was recognized.”

Right after taking office, Mayor Gu judged that a 'multi-party consultative body' including both supporters and opponents was necessary to resolve this issue, and requested mediation from Gyeongnam Province.

Accordingly, at the end of 2018, the '5-party consultative body' composed of Geochang County, Geochang County Council, Ministry of Justice, and representatives of both supporters and opponents was launched, and at the third meeting on May 16, 2019, just six months after its launch, they reached a dramatic agreement to conduct a 'resident referendum' as a method of collecting residents' opinions on the Geochang Legal Town development project. Subsequently, the issue was settled through the referendum held on October 16 of the same year.

Last December, the Supreme Court sent an official document to Geochang County stating that the Changwon District Court Geochang Branch would be relocated near the Geochang Detention Center, thus concluding the plan to create a Geochang Detention Center Town including the Geochang Branch.

Currently, the Geochang Detention Center is progressing smoothly with 20% of construction completed. The target completion date is August next year.

- The normalization of the 'Geochang International Theater Festival,' which had repeatedly faced setbacks since 2016 due to issues with the festival executive committee and trademark transfer, is also a major topic in the region.

“With the goal of holding it normally this summer, we are currently recruiting the organizing chairman and artistic director representing the Korean theater world. We plan to secure professionals and soon form the Geochang International Theater Festival Organizing Committee.”

The Geochang International Theater Festival has been established as Geochang County’s representative festival for over 30 years since 1989, but it has not been held normally in the past five years (2016?2020) due to issues such as unclear budget execution and trademark use.

- At the end of January, the Geochang County Council passed a budget bill setting the purchase price of the existing Geochang International Theater Festival trademark at 800 million KRW. Does this mean all disputes are over?

“Although there was a legal dispute at one point, we agreed at the end of last year to transfer the trademark for 1 billion KRW, and recently, the county council passed a supplementary budget of 800 million KRW at a temporary session. This year, the International Theater Festival will be elevated to a comprehensive arts festival utilizing water and light, and the festival space will be expanded not only to Suseungdae but also to Geochang town center and Changpowon.”

In 2016, Geochang County, which decided to hold the theater festival directly and tried to acquire the trademark from the existing festival executive committee, faced legal disputes due to a significant difference in appraisal prices.

Afterwards, at the end of last year, the county signed a final agreement to transfer the trademark for 1 billion KRW with the festival executive committee and prepared a budget, but during the county council’s review process, the entire amount was cut, causing another crisis.

This year, Geochang County re-submitted 1 billion KRW in the first supplementary budget, and on January 25, the county council finally passed a budget of 800 million KRW, putting an end to the five-year-long conflict.

Mayor Gu emphasized, “Since the Geochang International Theater Festival will be held again after five years of disruption, we plan to prepare to showcase the best stage, restore the 30-year reputation, and achieve a second leap forward.”

He concluded, “This year, based on the largest-ever budget of 650.4 billion KRW, we will concretize six major visions including the Geochang-type New Deal and accelerate pioneering a new future. As the end of the COVID-19 tunnel is in sight, I urge the residents to unite and overcome this crisis together.”

The six major visions for the second half of the 7th elected term, announced by Mayor Gu when passing the midpoint of his term in July last year, are ▲Geochang-type New Deal ▲Hub for Global Elevator Business ▲Mecca of Anti-aging, Healing, and Tourism ▲Expansion and Development of Future Urban Infrastructure ▲Agricultural Innovation and Rural Leap ▲Provision of Resident-Centered Living Convenience.

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