Yoon Bong-geun, Vice Chairman of the Democratic Party Gwangju Joint Election Committee, Urges Relocation of 'Pyeongdong Shooting Range'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Cho Hyung-joo] Yoon Bong-geun, Vice Chairman of the Gwangju Joint Election Countermeasures Committee for Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea’s presidential candidate, strongly urged the relocation of the “Pyeongdong Shooting Range in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City.”

Since the Pyeongdong Shooting Range was established as a military facility in 1951, urban expansion has not only hindered the aesthetics and development of the surrounding area but also caused it to fall into a state of decline.

In 2011, then-Mayor Kang Un-tae and Yoon Bong-geun, who was then the vice chairman of the city council, joined forces to push for relocation by signing an MOU with the Ministry of National Defense (Army Infantry School). However, the project has been stalled for over ten years due to obstacles such as the lack of alternative sites.

When progress became difficult due to opposition from Jangseong County, which was proposed as an alternative site, the Ministry of National Defense revised related regulations in 2014 to remove the requirement for local government consent when relocating within existing training grounds, aiming to prevent the failure of military training ground relocations due to local opposition. Nevertheless, no progress has been made.

Accordingly, Vice Chairman Yoon insisted, “The Pyeongdong Shooting Range (2,463,000㎡) and the adjacent Dongbaek Training Ground (4,298,000㎡) should be returned to the citizens as soon as possible.”

He added, “The Pyeongdong Shooting Range is excellently accessible, located 10 minutes by car from Songjeong Station and 5 minutes from Seogwangsan IC and Naju IC. It should be developed into a comprehensive sports and leisure town for Gwangju citizens’ rest and Gwangsan-gu residents’ recreational sports, along with Pyeongdong Reservoir and Songsan Amusement Park, to meet the growing demands of sports enthusiasts.”

Vice Chairman Yoon also cited the cases of Yangpyeong County and Gangneung City, which resolved military base relocation issues this year, and called for a proactive attitude change from Gwangju City and the Ministry of National Defense.

Recently, Yangpyeong County launched the “Yangpyeong Comprehensive Training Ground Conflict Management Council” in September 2017 to continuously promote the relocation of the shooting range and reached an agreement with the Ministry of National Defense (7th Corps) on February 9 to relocate by 2030.

Additionally, Gangneung City signed a memorandum of agreement with the Ministry of National Defense after over three years of negotiations to relocate the local military shooting range (600,000㎡), attracting nearly 1 trillion won in private capital, revitalizing the local economy that had stagnated after COVID-19 through the relocation of the military base within the city.

Meanwhile, following the proposal of the “Special Act on the Relocation and Support of Military Shooting Ranges” by Assemblyman Kim Seon-kyo in March, which emphasizes the role of central government ministries by requiring the Minister of National Defense to select relocation candidate sites and demand resident referendums, the relocation project is expected to gain momentum.

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