Kim Mikyung, Eunpyeong District Mayor, Fully Committed to Early Promotion of Sinbundang Line Northwest Extension

Kim Mikyung, Eunpyeong District Mayor, Strongly Urges Prime Minister and Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for Early Promotion of Northwest Extension... Six Basic Local Government Heads (Eunpyeong-gu, Jongno-gu, Jung-gu, Yongsan-gu, Gangnam-gu, Goyang-si) Jointly Respond for Early Promotion of Northwest Extension

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) plans to make every effort to expedite the early promotion of the northwest extension of the Shinbundang Line to achieve balanced development between Gangnam and Gangbuk and to resolve transportation issues in the northwest area of Seoul.

The northwest extension project of the Shinbundang Line is a major express railway network construction project spanning approximately 18.6 km from Yongsan to Eunpyeong New Town to Samsong. It is known as an essential project to alleviate the metropolitan traffic congestion in the northwest region of Seoul, where the metropolitan transportation network is significantly insufficient despite the explosive increase in transportation demand due to the rapid expansion of public housing supply in new towns such as Goyang Samsong, Wonheung, Hyangdong, and Jichuk districts, followed by the construction of the 3rd phase Changneung New Town and the establishment of the National Korean Literature Museum.

However, since April 2019, when the Korea Development Institute (KDI) expressed concerns about the lack of economic feasibility during the preliminary feasibility study mid-term review meeting, the Shinbundang Line northwest extension project has been at a standstill.

Meanwhile, Eunpyeong-gu has requested the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to improve the preliminary feasibility study, including reflecting new transportation demands. Additionally, it has delivered a petition signed by 300,000 residents demanding the early opening of the northwest extension line to relevant agencies (Seoul Metropolitan Government, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Strategy and Finance) and held a residents' resolution rally urging the early opening of the Shinbundang Line northwest extension, voicing the residents' aspirations.

Furthermore, on June 11, 2020, Mayor Kim Mi-kyung of Eunpyeong-gu met with Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and delivered a joint response statement from six basic local governments that the Shinbundang Line northwest extension will pass through (Eunpyeong-gu, Jongno-gu, Jung-gu, Yongsan-gu, Gangnam-gu, Goyang-si). On January 20 of this year, she also strongly demanded the prompt promotion of the Shinbundang Line northwest extension project during a meeting with Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Byun Chang-heum.

Residents of Eunpyeong-gu have been waiting in hopeful agony for over 10 years for the Shinbundang Line northwest extension, which will alleviate chronic congestion on Tongil-ro and promote regional balanced development. However, they are angered by the delay of more than two and a half years in the announcement of the preliminary feasibility study results, which ignored future transportation demand and regional balanced development and cited a lack of economic feasibility. They strongly demand that the preliminary feasibility study be exempted within this year and that the project be confirmed early.

Mayor Kim Eun-kyung stated, “Even though there is a serious imbalance between Gangnam and Gangbuk within Seoul, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) continues to rely solely on economic feasibility logic, causing extreme relative deprivation among residents in the northwest area of Seoul. The elements of regional balanced development must be reintroduced for railway infrastructure construction routes that will improve quality of life and promote regional balanced development. Furthermore, the Seoul Metropolitan Government needs to express a strong commitment to early project promotion through financial investment,” she emphasized.

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