Mayor of Sangju, Gyeongbuk Appeals to Blue House... "Please Expedite the Mungyeong~Sangju~Gimcheon Railway Connection!"

Demand to Connect 70.7km of Unlinked Sections Expected to Catalyze National Balanced Development

Image of the Mungyeong~Sangju~Gimcheon high-speed railway project connection.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Trainee Reporter Lee Seryeong] Kang Young-seok, mayor of Sangju City, Gyeongbuk, will read a petition urging the completion of the Mungyeong~Sangju~Gimcheon high-speed railway project at 3 p.m. on the 16th at Cheongwadae Plaza.

The petition requests the connection of the 70.7 km section between Mungyeong, Sangju, and Gimcheon on the Jungbu Inland Railroad and the Nambu Inland Railroad, explaining the necessity of the project, the difficult local realities regarding economic feasibility evaluation, and the effects on regional balanced development.

Mayor Kang plans to demand that policy effectiveness and regional balanced development be fully considered rather than just economic feasibility.

The Mungyeong~Sangju~Gimcheon high-speed railway project is a large-scale national project with a total budget of 1.1437 trillion KRW, connecting the unlinked sections of the Jungbu Inland Railroad from Suseo, Gangnam, Seoul to Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk, and the Nambu Inland Railroad from Gimcheon, Gyeongbuk to Geoje, Gyeongnam.

The preliminary feasibility study for this section began in May 2019 and is currently ongoing, with completion expected in January next year.

Sangju City submitted the petition to Cheongwadae to convey the citizens' wishes again ahead of the second inspection meeting scheduled for the end of December.

Last year, a signature campaign for the completion of the high-speed railway was conducted, and in September this year, representatives from Sangju, Mungyeong, and Gimcheon held a relay one-person protest in front of the Korea Development Institute (KDI) for three weeks, urging the passage of the preliminary feasibility study.

In November, a National Assembly policy forum hosted by National Assembly members Im Eui-ja and Song Eon-seok was held to reaffirm the commitment to railway construction.

Last year, a petition advocating railway construction to revitalize the economy and develop abundant tourism resources in the western and northern parts of Gyeongbuk was signed by nearly 240,734 of the 310,101 citizens of Mungyeong, Sangju, and Gimcheon.

Currently, Sangju citizens must use private cars or buses to travel to the metropolitan area, and to take a train, they must go to Mungyeong, Gimcheon, or Daegu.

Local companies argue that without a railway connecting to the metropolitan area, it is difficult to freely move or export goods, making it hard to enhance competitiveness.

It is also difficult to attract outside companies and tourists, causing challenges in revitalizing the local economy, so the city has decided to raise its voice for railway construction.

Since April 2020, Mayor Kang, along with National Assembly members Im Eui-ja and Song Eon-seok, has directly visited the Prime Minister, Minister of Strategy and Finance, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Chairman of the National Balanced Development Committee, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Chairman of the Korea Rail Network Authority dozens of times to express their commitment to railway construction.

Mayor Kang said, “As this project is crucial for the survival and balanced development of the region, I am confident that the preliminary feasibility study will definitely pass,” and added, “We will make every effort to ensure that the high-speed railway project starts construction quickly.”

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