Hong Nampyo, Changwon Special City Mayor, Visits National Assembly to Request National Funding and Policy Issues

Continuing intense efforts in the National Assembly to secure national funding for next year's major projects

Proposal for strategic lifting of development restrictions to focus on fostering defense and nuclear power industries

Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam, met with Sung Iljong, Chairman of the Policy Committee, to explain the national budget projects and propose policy issues.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Song Jong-gu] Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam, visited the National Assembly on the 19th to secure next year’s national budget and propose policy issues.

Mayor Hong’s visit to the National Assembly follows his actions since the ‘Joint Meeting for Securing National Budget’ in July and meetings with the Chair of the Planning and Finance Committee and Budget and Accounts Committee members last month. During this visit, he met with Seong Il-jong, Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, and Jang Dong-hyuk, member of the Special Budget and Accounts Committee, to explain major national budget projects of Changwon City and propose policy issues.

The major projects proposed by Mayor Hong for next year include ▲Manufacturing of medical and bio diagnostic devices based on AI and big data ▲Establishment of next-generation advanced composite beam irradiation facilities ▲Support project for smooth landing of industrial crisis response special zones ▲Construction of the 3rd columbarium at Changwon Municipal Sangbok Park ▲Establishment of the Future Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Complex Research Center ▲Changwon BRT construction project ▲Improvement of the Changwon Seomasan IC entrance and exit roads ▲Urban regeneration New Deal project for Synthetic District 1 ▲Installation of sewage pipelines in Daesan-dong town ▲Support project for digital manufacturing innovation with advanced equipment and robots ▲Basic plan establishment for modernization of the 300-year-old Masan Fish Market ▲Construction of a clean seawater supply system, totaling 12 projects with a total project cost of 638.8 billion KRW (national budget 526.3 billion KRW), of which 21.7 billion KRW is required from the national budget in 2023.

Among the proposed projects, the ‘Manufacturing of medical and bio diagnostic devices based on AI and big data’ aims to secure future new growth engines by applying AI and big data technology to the manufacturing of medical and bio diagnostic devices that require precision processing.

Additionally, the ‘Establishment of next-generation advanced composite beam irradiation facilities’ is a project to build various accelerators such as electron beams and ion beams customized for industry for the first time in Korea. The city plans to start a feasibility study next year for the next-generation advanced composite beam irradiation facilities necessary for fostering advanced science technology and future industries.

In particular, during his meeting with Seong Il-jong, Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, Mayor Hong presented a new concept of ‘National Industrial Complex 2.0,’ a defense and nuclear power specialized industrial complex, emphasizing recently that “the defense and nuclear power industries, which are being led by Changwon to pioneer the global market, must be intensively fostered at the national level.” He also proposed the strategic lifting of the Green Belt (GB) restrictions on the target sites of National Industrial Complex 2.0 for this purpose.

He further explained the necessity of designating Changwon for the second phase demonstration project of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge (K-UAM GC) and relocating R&D-centered public institutions to Changwon, requesting policy support at the National Assembly level.

Mayor Hong stated, “Until the government budget for next year is finalized, I will focus administrative efforts on securing the national budget for major projects along with proposing policy issues.”

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