Gyeongju City and Korea Racing Authority Sign Donation and Land Purchase Agreement for 'Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ri Archaeological Sites'

Gyeongju City Purchases 418 Historic Sites and Receives Donation of 82 Parcels

From the center left of the photo, Choi Won-il, Vice Chairman of Korea Racing Authority, and Kim Ho-jin, Deputy Mayor of Gyeongju.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] On the 24th, Gyeongju City and the Korea Racing Authority held a contract signing ceremony for the donation and land purchase of the Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ri archaeological sites at the Korea Racing Authority's main conference room.

The contract signing ceremony was part of the process for Gyeongju City to receive ownership of 418 parcels of Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ri historic sites, totaling 844,688㎡, from the Korea Racing Authority.

According to the contract, the Korea Racing Authority will transfer ownership of the historic sites to Gyeongju City by the end of this year, and Gyeongju City will pay the land purchase price to the Korea Racing Authority in stages over three years. The purchase cost will be 12 billion KRW over three years until 2023 (8.4 billion KRW from the central government, 1.8 billion KRW from the provincial government, and 1.8 billion KRW from the city government).

Additionally, for 82 parcels of land (83,303㎡, valued at approximately 1.6 billion KRW based on official land prices) not designated as historic sites, the Korea Racing Authority has agreed to donate them to Gyeongju City by the end of this year. Gyeongju City is expected to establish a basic and comprehensive maintenance plan for the Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ri archaeological sites and proceed with the full-scale project.

The Korea Racing Authority purchased the Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ri areas to build a racetrack, but since the site was designated as a historic site early in the project, it has not been effectively utilized for over 20 years. Subsequently, in December last year, the process accelerated with the signing of a "Memorandum of Understanding for the Preservation and Utilization of Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ri Sites" among Gyeongju City, the Cultural Heritage Administration, Gyeongbuk Province, and the Korea Racing Authority.

Mayor Joo Nak-young of Gyeongju said, "I hope that this donation and land purchase contract with the Korea Racing Authority will remain a good example of public-private win-win cooperation," adding, "Taking this opportunity, we will make greater efforts to utilize and maintain the cultural heritage of Gyeongju, a world-class cultural heritage city."

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