Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "In the Remaining Year of the 7th Elected Term, We Will Devote All Efforts to 'Citizen Safety and Happiness'"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, announced on the 28th that he will devote his efforts in the remaining year of the 7th term of the elected government to creating ‘citizen safety and happiness,’ ‘a new future for Gwangju,’ and ‘a new global city Gwangju.’

Gwangju City is actively promoting the ‘Gwangju-type AI Green New Deal’ along with a bold goal to become the first carbon-neutral energy self-sufficient city in Korea by 2045. The establishment of the Gwangju Public Medical Center to resolve medical imbalance and strengthen the public healthcare system is also being expedited.

On February 25th, the ‘2045 Carbon Neutral City Promotion Committee,’ consisting of representatives from various sectors, was launched, and 113 civic groups are participating in the ‘Climate Crisis Emergency Action.’

Through the Green Energy Storage System (ESS) regulatory free zone, a new private-sector-centered business model is being created where citizens can buy and sell energy produced from solar-powered buildings and other sources.

By utilizing artificial intelligence for scientific supply and demand management of renewable energy, Gwangju plans to support the success of the Honam regional super-wide energy economy community project (Honam RE300) together with Jeonnam and Jeonbuk provinces.

Additionally, Gwangju plans to build the National AI Data Center as scheduled for ‘a better tomorrow for Gwangju’ and expand the scale of talent development at the AI Academy. Along with this, legislation to strengthen the competitiveness of the AI ecosystem and the establishment of a dedicated AI industry promotion agency (tentatively named AI Data Industry Convergence Institute) are also planned.

The mayor stated that during his three years in office, he has focused solely on the development of Gwangju and its citizens without rest.

According to Mayor Lee, Gwangju is transforming from ‘the political number one district’ to ‘the economic number one district,’ from ‘a city people leave due to lack of jobs’ to ‘a city people return to,’ and into ‘a city where companies and talents come.’

Mayor Lee emphasized, “Long-standing regional projects are being resolved one after another through public-private cooperation.”

He said, “The urban railway Line 2 project, which had repeated conflicts and confrontations for as long as 16 years, was resolved through citizen public discussion, and full-scale construction began in September 2019. Once completed, the ‘30-minute public transportation era’ will open, allowing travel across Gwangju within 30 minutes by bus or subway.”

He continued, “Ahead of the urban park sunset policy, 24 urban parks (67.9% of all neighborhood parks in Gwangju) were preserved. In the case of the private park special project, the park area ratio is 90.4%, the highest nationwide (average 81%), and excessive profits of construction companies are reclaimed, making it the most exemplary case in the country,” he said emphatically.

He also pointed out that the number of births in Gwangju is increasing.

While the number of births continues to decline nationwide, Gwangju recorded a cumulative 2,769 births from January to April this year, a 7.2% increase compared to the previous year.

Starting this year, a birth congratulatory payment of 1 million won and a monthly childcare allowance of 200,000 won for two years after birth, totaling 4.8 million won, are being provided. From next year, the birth congratulatory payment will be expanded to 1.5 million won for the second child and 2 million won for the third child and beyond.

Also, Gwangju has received great responses for operating the nation’s first 24-hour emergency childcare center, inpatient child care services for working couples, public postpartum care services, and expanded support for infertile couples. Gwangju operates the integrated platform ‘Gwangju I-Kium,’ which consolidates all information and policy services related to marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting.

It is also leading efforts to realize warm welfare without exclusion or discrimination.

Gwangju opened the nation’s first integrated care center for severely disabled persons with developmental disabilities, providing 24/7 one-on-one support. The city also opened a social service agency to enhance the public nature of social welfare and improve workers’ treatment, and established the Gwangju Welfare Research Institute to strengthen welfare policy research.

Along with this, welfare infrastructure is being significantly expanded through the operation of the Bitgoeul 50+ Center for life redesign including senior citizen centers, dementia prevention specialized senior complex facilities, and education and training for middle-aged employment and entrepreneurship; the construction of facilities such as the Disabled Persons’ Hall, Disabled Persons’ Training Facilities, Welfare Centers for the Hearing and Speech Impaired, and the Municipal Comprehensive Welfare Center for the Disabled.

Furthermore, Gwangju is making a leap as an international sports city. It successfully hosted the 2019 Gwangju World Swimming Championships, the most successful event in history, and is promoting follow-up legacy projects such as the construction of the Korea Swimming Promotion Center and the Gwangju Swimming Championships.

It also attracted the first women’s professional volleyball team in the Honam region (Pepper Savings Bank) and opened the nation’s largest dedicated e-sports stadium. Gwangju is accelerating efforts to host the 2025 World Archery Championships and the 2038 Gwangju-Daegu Summer Asian Games.

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