Development of Ungdong 1 District Drifts for 13 Years... Due to Mismanagement and Poor Supervision by Former Changwon City Officials

Shim Byung-chul, Auditor of Changwon Special City, Gyeongnam, is announcing the interim audit results regarding the cause of the delay in the development project of the Jinhae Ungdong 1 District Complex Tourism Leisure Complex. / Photo by Ryeong Lee ryeong@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam announced the interim results of the audit on the development project of the Jinhae Ungdong 1 District Complex Tourism Leisure Complex in the Busanjinhae Free Economic Zone on the 20th.

According to the city, the goal of the Ungdong 1 District development project was to create a golf course and accommodation facilities such as hotels by 2015, and leisure, cultural facilities, and a sports park by 2018, but it has been stalled for 13 years as of this year.

Since construction began in November 2013, only the golf course was completed in December 2017, while the other facilities have not even started.

Since July, five organizations including Gyeongnam Province, Changwon City, the Free Economic Zone Authority, Gyeongnam Development Corporation, and private business operators have formed a council to normalize the Ungdong District, but they have not been able to narrow their differences.

The city stated that the cause of the project's stagnation was due to poor management and supervision by Changwon City as the project implementer during the previous mayor's administration.

It also pointed out ▲ the forced extension of land use periods to refinance private business operators' loans ▲ exemption of private business operators from reinvestment obligations ▲ illicit sales of development project land for purposes other than intended ▲ unauthorized leakage of official meeting minutes by city officials.

Auditor Shin Byungcheol said, “We will take internal measures against those involved who were found to have handled tasks inappropriately or negligently,” and added, “We will request an investigation into illegal and serious misconduct and instruct the responsible department to actively cooperate with the project stakeholders to come up with a plan to normalize the project.”

Je Jongnam, Director of the Maritime Port and Fisheries Bureau, said, “We will conduct additional consultations with Gyeongnam Development Corporation, a joint project implementer, under the supervision of the Free Economic Zone Authority,” and added, “Since the designation of the Free Economic Zone Authority in 2003, we will establish the optimal development direction reflecting changed surrounding conditions such as the confirmed Jinhae New Port and Gadukdo New Airport construction, and do our best to promote the project normally.”

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