Yeom Tae-young's Pledge for 'Gyeonggi Bukbu Division': "Realizing Gyeonggi Bukbu as a Special Autonomous Province"

"Resident Referendum to Be Held, Will Follow the Will of 3.5 Million Residents in Northern Gyeonggi"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Yeom Tae-young, a preliminary candidate for governor of Gyeonggi Province from the Democratic Party of Korea (former mayor of Suwon), has proposed a campaign promise for the 'Gyeonggi Bukdo Special Autonomous Province' (tentative name) regarding the division of Gyeonggi Northern Region.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the afternoon of the 13th, Yeom held a press conference at the briefing room on the 5th floor of the Gyeonggi Northern Government Complex and announced the campaign promise for the realization of resident autonomy through the 'Gyeonggi Bukdo Special Autonomous Province.'

The promise presented a phased roadmap for the division, considering realistic conditions such as the financial vulnerability of cities and counties in northern Gyeonggi, which had hindered the division.

The roadmap includes ▲ the formation of the Gyeonggi Bukdo Citizens Promotion Committee ▲ the establishment of a 'Division Research Institute' at the Northern Research Center of the Gyeonggi Research Institute ▲ gathering opinions from city and county councils and conducting resident referendums ▲ and the enactment of the Gyeonggi Division Act.

So far, northern Gyeonggi, despite being part of the metropolitan area, has been isolated in all fields including industry, economy, education, culture, and healthcare for over 60 years due to various regulations such as the Military Facilities Protection Act, owing to its geographical characteristic of bordering North Korea.

In Yeoncheon County, most of the administrative district is designated as a military facility protection zone. Even for development projects such as golf courses or the construction and renovation of private houses, consent from military units must be obtained. About 90% of Paju City is also designated as a military protection zone. In Dongducheon City and Uijeongbu City, the delay in the return of U.S. military bases has become an obstacle to regional development. In addition, most areas in northern Gyeonggi are suffering from development regulations and other restrictions.

On the other hand, investments by large corporations are concentrated in the southern region, increasing the sense of alienation and relative deprivation in the northern region.

In February 2019, SK Hynix applied for Yongin City as the site for a semiconductor cluster with a total investment of 120 trillion won, and the government immediately began easing regulations in the metropolitan area, which is now being developed. Earlier, in 2015, Samsung Electronics started constructing a semiconductor complex worth 37 trillion won in Pyeongtaek City, which was completed in 2018. While the northern region is bound by various regulations, the southern region is receiving concentrated investment.

Yeom said, "The division theory of Gyeonggi Province into southern and northern provinces has been continuously raised for over 30 years. It has been a recurring topic during election seasons, but it was always just temporary. There are also considerable views that division is not a solution to the underdevelopment of northern Gyeonggi, but whether division will be a new breakthrough for northern Gyeonggi's development or whether it will only worsen northern finances is a question like 'which came first, the chicken or the egg?'"

He continued, "Although the division of Gyeonggi is not a magic wand that instantly solves all problems, I believe it can present the best path to find solutions to the issues faced by the northern region. I have run for governor of Gyeonggi Province to uphold the will of the northern residents. This position carries the responsibility to lead that will in a valuable and rational direction, and since the northern residents share a unified hope, I will present division as a symbol of those hopes."

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