Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, "Aerospace Agency to be Established in Sacheon as Planned"

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, presiding over the meeting of department and bureau heads.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] “The Space Aviation Agency is progressing as planned, and there is no change in it being established in Sacheon.”

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, mentioned this during the heads of departments and bureaus meeting on the 4th, addressing the controversy that the Space Aviation Agency was missing from the government organization law revision plan.

Governor Park explained, “The Space Aviation Agency is not a general administrative organization but is being formed to maximize expertise by investigating the organization, job series, and expert status,” adding, “It will be established later by enacting a separate law.”

He emphasized, “According to confirmation with the Presidential Office regarding some media reports, the President has a strong will to create a permanent group composed of experts like NASA in the United States, and there is absolutely no problem with establishing it in Sacheon, Gyeongnam.”

According to the province, the government is hastening preparations to establish the Space Aviation Agency to become one of the world’s top seven aerospace powers, and on the 15th of last month, it formed a task force dedicated to promoting the establishment of the agency.

They have begun reviewing legal enactments and amendments, functions, and organization for the establishment of the Space Aviation Agency, breaking the usual practice of setting up a promotion task force after revising the government organization law, with the dedicated team currently reviewing organizational composition and other matters.

Governor Park also mentioned the administrative integration of the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) region, which was proposed instead of the Bu-Ul-Gyeong special union.

He said, “Former Governor Kim Kyung-soo and Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon ultimately talked about integration,” adding, “To criticize the Gyeongnam Province’s proposal to take the shortcut of administrative integration instead of going around with a special union, one must first express opposition to administrative integration.”

Gyeongnam Province pointed out on the 19th of last month that the Bu-Ul-Gyeong special union lacks authority and resources, involves excessive manpower and financial input, and raises concerns about regional neglect such as in western Gyeongnam and accountability issues of the special union’s heads.

At that time, Governor Park proposed the administrative integration plan, saying, “There is no practical benefit unless financial support or delegation of national affairs is secured,” and “Since Bu-Ul-Gyeong was once a single local government, returning as one family is necessary to overcome the local crisis, so integration is essential.”

At the headquarters meeting, Governor Park emphasized discovering new projects in next year’s work plan and ordered department and bureau staff to find differentiated policies for residents through discussions.

Regarding various evaluations of government ministries’ work, he instructed, “The evaluation results of government ministries are a gauge for provincial administration,” and “The evaluation results will be actively reflected in the performance evaluation of department heads, so find excellent institutions in each field and benchmark them.”

On this day, Governor Park strongly criticized the province’s improper personnel practices.

He declared, “Unnecessary secondments and training have increased promotion positions, and frequent job changes linked to this have lowered the expertise of provincial administration,” adding, “From now on, there will be no separate promotion positions, and anyone who shows passion for work and achieves results will be promoted.”

Regarding the resurgence of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, he said, “With the removal of outdoor mask mandates and the holding of autumn festivals, the number of visitors is increasing significantly,” and requested, “Please pay special attention to safety accidents, quarantine, and traffic issues related to this to ensure no inconvenience to residents.”

Finally, he said, “The protagonists of events and festivals in the province are the residents or the organizers,” and instructed, “Eliminate protocol such as reception and guidance for the governor and avoid unnecessary manpower waste.”

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