Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop Urges Swift Promotion of 'Establishment of National Trauma Violence Center'

In the Executive Meeting, Basic Directions for Preserving Jeonnam and Ilsin Textile Sites Established and Employee Efforts Commended

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, urged the swift promotion of the establishment of the National Trauma Healing Center for State Violence.

At the executive meeting on the 7th, Mayor Lee said, "Please do your best to ensure that the enabling law for the establishment of the National Trauma Healing Center for State Violence is enacted as soon as possible."

Currently, the city operates the Gwangju Trauma Center based on ordinances as a pilot project for the functions of the National Trauma Center, due to the lack of an enabling law for the center's establishment.

Once the enabling law is enacted, the center can be newly established and provide more specialized healing activities.

Following the enactment of three bills related to the May 18 Democratic Uprising last year (Special Act on Punishment of Distortion of May 18, Special Act on Fact-Finding, and Act on the Treatment of Merit Persons), voices are rising for the enactment of a law to establish the National Trauma Healing Center for State Violence to heal the pain of state violence, including May 18.

On the 27th of last month, the "Act on the Establishment and Operation of the National Trauma Healing Center for State Violence" passed the subcommittee of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee.

Regarding this, Mayor Lee explained that this bill, which has been promoted since the 20th National Assembly, needs active response through the full committee meeting, the Judiciary Committee, and the plenary session to ensure its enactment in this session.

Based on the enactment of the bill, work to promote the construction of the National Trauma Center is also underway.

It is planned to be built on the site of the former Gukgun Gwangju Hospital with a total floor area of 2,200㎡ and three above-ground floors. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has completed an on-site inspection and plans to hold an architectural design competition in September. Additionally, 4.4 billion KRW has been included in next year's government budget for land acquisition and construction projects.

Mayor Lee urged, "Please start the urban basic management plan change service within this month to ensure the center's construction can proceed swiftly, and closely coordinate with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to comply with administrative procedures according to related laws and regulations."

He also requested to prepare the basic direction for preserving the Jeonnam·Ilsin Textile site and to discuss landowners and development plans starting in October.

Gwangju City has formed an expert joint T/F consisting of experts from urban planning, architecture, humanities, as well as members from the council, media, and local residents since July last year to prepare the optimal development plan with public interest, business feasibility, and transparency for the Jeonnam·Ilsin Textile site, holding six meetings.

At the sixth meeting on September 1, the preservation and utilization value of factory buildings on the site were evaluated, and preservation priorities were decided.

Mayor Lee explained, "Jeonnam·Ilsin Textile holds high historical and cultural value as it bears the history of exploitation during the Japanese colonial period and the bittersweet lives of female workers during industrialization. It is the last prime land of 300,000㎡ in downtown Gwangju, and its development is important to enhance urban competitiveness and citizens' quality of life."

He added, "Since citizens have diverse thoughts and values between preservation and development, it is necessary to establish and present clear standards that the local community can empathize with. Having deliberated for over a year, the expert joint T/F should finalize the basic preservation direction through in-depth discussions as soon as possible, and the relevant departments should actively support this."

The mayor also acknowledged the hard work of employees who are focusing on COVID-19 response and current tasks.

He said, "Despite the difficulties of COVID-19 response and quarantine activities entering the 20th month, thanks to the efforts of the employees, our city's major issues are achieving results. The only city nationwide with six consecutive months of increased births, the inclusion of the Moonlight High-Speed Rail in the national plan after 20 years, the dawn of the 3 trillion KRW national budget era, the construction of a domestic automobile factory after 23 years, and GGM's new car production?all the seeds sown by Gwangju are bearing fruit thanks to all the employees."

He continued, "I hope all employees take sufficient rest by taking leave around this Chuseok holiday within the scope that does not interfere with work. The time for recharging will be the driving force to wisely resolve the remaining issues."

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