Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijeong: "In 2023, Gwangju Will Become a Square of Opportunities Filled with Hope"

Next Year's Gwangju City Administration Keywords: 'Dolbom', 'Startup', 'Yeongsangang Y-Belt'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Kang Ki-jung, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, selected 'care', 'startups', and 'Yeongsangang Y-belt' as the key words for Gwangju city administration in 2023. He also promised to make Gwangju a plaza of opportunity full of hope.

In a year-end message announced at a press conference on the 27th, Mayor Kang stated, "We will create an open Gwangju where people gather in a wide-open plaza without discrimination, exclusion, or marginalization, enjoying everyday democracy and a community that comes together."

He emphasized, "In the past six months of the 8th elected term, we declared a 'farewell to the familiar' and, together with public officials as one team, have strived to break away from the comfort of customs and conventions. We are making fundamental changes such as discarding unnecessary tasks, and despite difficult circumstances, our city secured a national budget of 3.3081 trillion won, an increase of 92.6 billion won compared to last year."

He also said, "We have promoted long-awaited projects desired by citizens such as the AI Phase 2 project, establishment of Gwangju AI Gifted High School, relocation of Mudeungsan anti-aircraft battery, establishment of Gwangju Driver’s License Examination Office, and construction of the National Youth Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, laying the foundation to leap forward as a city of opportunity. We have also established a distinctive communication system that regularly meets various citizens on diverse topics."

He mentioned the complex shopping mall expected to become a landmark of Gwangju, the design of the underground road at Baegun Square, the Eodeungsan tourism complex project, and the military airport relocation issue.

He also spoke about plans for next year, which will officially begin after the initial six months of preparation and start of the 8th elected term.

First, he promised to create opportunities for a healthy life represented by 'care'. This means strengthening the role of the public sector in the care area.

Starting from April next year, the ‘Gwangju-style Integrated Care’ will be fully implemented to fill the gaps in existing care services, allowing any citizen to use the necessary care services whenever they want.

He also plans to operate a ‘Safe City Working Group’ to ensure that our precious neighbors such as youth preparing for independence, reclusive individuals, single-person households, and people with disabilities are not marginalized, and to eliminate safety blind spots so that citizens can enjoy a safe life, raising safety awareness together with citizens.

Secondly, the opportunity to work represented by 'startups'.

He intends to support innovative startup success by combining infrastructure development, financial support, and transfer of large corporations’ success know-how, and to accumulate even failures as assets of the city of opportunity, Gwangju.

He promised to build the Gwangju Station Startup Valley, to be completed in 2026, as the largest startup innovation complex in the Honam region, and to actively invest as a catalyst for startup success by creating a 500 billion won fund by adding the ‘Startup Growth Ladder Fund’ to the currently established seven funds totaling 300 billion won.

He also revealed plans to provide customized growth programs and various opportunities for cooperation with large corporations to startup companies through ‘C-lab Outside Gwangju’ in partnership with Samsung.

He will focus on advancing the AI Phase 2 project, which will newly start centered on the only national AI data center in Korea, to be completed next year, and plans to prepare the establishment of a semiconductor specialized complex based on strengths shared with Jeonnam.

Thirdly, he plans to create opportunities to enjoy represented by the 'Yeongsangang Y-belt'.

The 14th Gwangju Biennale, to be held in April next year, will be made a festival ground sharing Gwangju’s charm, taste, and righteousness with people worldwide. From ancient Mahan to modern and contemporary historical and cultural resources, and cutting-edge immersive digital content newly realizing these, Gwangju’s unique and fascinating stories will be included in seasonal representative festivals to make the city always full of fun.

Mayor Kang added, "When everyone talks about difficulties, I still want to talk about hope and opportunity," and said, "We will proudly open 2023 ‘Gwangju-style’ with citizens so that living in Gwangju itself becomes another opportunity and pride."

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