Gyeonggi-do Seeks Effective Plans for Utilizing Unused Military Land

Gyeonggi Research Institute Proposes Legal and Institutional Measures Including Special Act Enactment and Regular Council Formation
Establishment of Return-to-Farm Villages, Workation Hub Offices, and Film and Broadcasting Shooting Locations in Yeoncheon

Final Report Meeting on the Utilization Plan for Unused Military Land in Gyeonggi Province [Gyeonggi Province]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Gyeonggi Province is researching effective ways to utilize unused military land that suit local conditions from January this year until recently, in line with the government's troop reduction and redeployment movements under the 'Defense Reform Basic Plan 4.0.'

The province announced on the 20th that it is promoting a "'Short-term Policy Study for the Public Purpose Utilization of Unused Military Land in Gyeonggi Province.'

According to the province, the border areas within Gyeonggi Province, which hold the largest amount of military land nationwide, have a military-dependent economic structure, so the occurrence of idle land due to military redeployment could deal a significant blow to the border area's economy.

Accordingly, the province proposed four directions for legal and institutional improvements.

First is the enactment of a "(tentative name) Special Act on the Utilization of Unused Military Land," which includes the formation of a dedicated organization, personnel allocation, and guidelines. This is because the current laws and regulations make it difficult to utilize and develop unused military land.

Next is the establishment of an "Unused Military Land Information Sharing System" between the military authorities and local governments to remove restrictions on access to information such as the location and status of unused military land.

It also includes revisions to related laws and regulations to eliminate problems and inconveniences that require considerable procedures and time from budget approval to actual utilization, such as soil contamination cleanup and removal of obstacles on military land.

To prepare utilization plans suitable for local characteristics, the plan also includes the formation and operation of a regular civil-government-military cooperative "consultative council" in which local residents participate in all stages from planning to project implementation.

In particular, this study explored various alternatives related to the utilization of unused military land centered on Yeoncheon-gun, where 94% of the administrative district is designated as a military protection zone.

Specifically, proposals included "urban development" plans such as creating residential land development industrial complexes and villages for returnees to rural areas, as well as "cultural tourism development" such as establishing peace cultural sites, youth training facilities, workation (remote work from vacation spots) base offices, and film and broadcasting shooting locations.

Meanwhile, on the 18th, the province held a final report meeting on this research project at the northern government office building of Gyeonggi Provincial Government to discuss future application plans at the provincial level.

At this meeting, there was also an opinion to amend the "Military Bases and Military Facilities Protection Act" to adjust the range of the "restricted protection zone" (from 25 km to 20 km) considering changes in weapon systems and operational environments, aiming to guarantee property rights for residents of the Yeoncheon border area and promote regional development.

Yeon Je-chan, Director of the Balanced Development Planning Office, said, "Based on this study, we will continue to pay attention to discovering and concretizing utilization plans that harmonize ecology, history, and culture while providing practical benefits to local residents."

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