Why Did Choi Ho-kwon, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor, Praise the Suncheonman International Garden Expo?

The 2023 Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo is a successful model of local autonomy

Investing in a long-term future vision instead of short-term populist policies

Applause also for the Suncheon City Council, which made decisions different from the pledges of local National Assembly members holding nomination rights

Choi Ho-kwon, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor: "I will lead a future-oriented district administration that considers the next generation rather than the next election"

"I believe the 2023 Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo is a successful model that properly shows the path local autonomy should take."

This is the impression expressed by Choi Ho-kwon, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor, after visiting the Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo.

Mayor Choi visited the '2023 Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo' held in Suncheon City, Jeollanam-do, on April 21. The purpose was to reference garden models for temporarily created green spaces on the site of the planned Mullae-dong district public complex cultural facility and for areas such as Anyangcheon Stream.

The expo opened on March 31 and will run until October 31, covering about 1.65 million pyeong (approximately 5.45 million square meters) across Suncheon City, including the national garden, wetland zone, and urban zone. It is a large-scale event with a total investment exceeding 200 billion KRW, including 15.5 billion KRW from the national government, 31.5 billion KRW from the provincial government, and 126.7 billion KRW from the city government.

About 2.5 million visitors attended during April alone. There is growing confidence that the expo will be a great success, surpassing the target of 8 million visitors and approaching 10 million.

Mayor Choi praised the beauty of the gardens and called it a "true realization of local autonomy" when meeting with Suncheon Mayor Noh Gwan-gyu. He especially highlighted the investment in a long-term future vision instead of short-term populist policies and the achievement of independence from central politics.

During the last local elections, many candidates for heads of nearby local governments in Suncheon competed to pledge disaster relief payments. Noh’s opponent also promised to provide 1 million KRW per person in disaster relief funds, aiming to stimulate local consumption and revitalize the economy immediately.

However, Mayor Noh proposed long-term urban plans such as the successful hosting of the 2023 Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo, the creation of a sports park, and the Old Downtown Renaissance Project instead of disaster relief payments.

As a result, despite being an independent candidate, he won the mayoral election with 69,855 votes (55.77%), beating the second-place candidate by about 14 percentage points. The citizens of Suncheon chose investment in the future over immediate pocket money.

The next point is independence from central politics. It is usually difficult for local council members to voice opinions different from those of local National Assembly members who hold nomination rights. In the case of the Suncheon City Council, 20 out of 25 members belong to the same party as the local National Assembly members.

Nevertheless, the Suncheon City Council chose the successful hosting of the expo over the local National Assembly members’ pledge to provide 1 million KRW per person in disaster relief payments. They reviewed and approved more than 120 billion KRW in city funds for the expo at the mayor’s request.

As a result of the city and council working in unison for regional development, Suncheon has created a new turning point for local development along with its unique intangible asset, the "Ecological Capital of Korea."

During the expo period, the influx of visitors revitalized the local economy and attracted investments from leading domestic conglomerates. Government support is also expected to continue.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who attended the opening ceremony, said, "I was very surprised that local governments can do this much. If local governments can do this much, there is no need for the central government to hold all the authority," and added, "Giving authority to local governments to foster autonomy seems to be the direction we should go."

Mayor Choi Ho-kwon, unable to hide his envy of Suncheon, said, "I send my respectful applause to the citizens of Suncheon who chose to invest in the future and long-term sustainability instead of disaster relief payments that only boost beef sales," and added, "I will lead a future-oriented district administration that thinks about the next generation rather than the next election."

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