Naju-si Accelerates 'Namdo Uibyung History Museum Construction Project'

Naju City has announced its official stance on the local community's public opinion regarding the partial demolition of Naju Film Theme Park to secure the site for the construction of the Namdo Uibyung History Museum, a project promoted by Jeollanam-do.

According to the city on the 15th, the Namdo Uibyung History Museum construction project, which was finally selected in July 2020 through a Jeollanam-do public contest thanks to the earnest wishes of the citizens, is set to be actively promoted with the goal of opening in the second half of 2025.

Aerial view of Namdo Uibyung History Park
[Photo by Naju City]

The museum is a key project of Jeollanam-do to honor the patriotic spirit of the Namdo Uibyung and to inherit the volunteer soldier spirit. It will be built on a site of 363,686㎡ (110,000 pyeong) in Singok-ri, Gongsan-myeon, Naju City, selected through the contest, with a total floor area of 6,884㎡.

Partial demolition of the theme park facilities is planned to begin as early as next month to secure the site, which is the first step of the project, aiming for groundbreaking in September next year.

Although there are local community opinions both for and against the demolition of the facilities, the city maintains that partial demolition of the theme park facilities is inevitable to smoothly proceed with the construction of the museum following the selection of the Namdo Uibyung History Park project.

The city plans to resolve issues such as continuous maintenance costs due to the aging of the theme park buildings, which were completed in 2007 and have aged over 16 years, and chronic deficits caused by a decrease in tourists, through partial demolition and the construction of the museum, transforming the area into a new tourism activation hub.

In particular, the Goguryeo Palace outside the museum construction site will be preserved and utilized as a tourism resource linked with the museum.

The city also issued fact-based clarifications regarding various suspicions raised by some civic groups opposing the demolition of the theme park.

These civic groups have recently pointed out on social media (SNS) issues such as the forced demolition of the theme park without public discussion, suspicions about the free donation of the site, and excessive demolition budget allocation.

Regarding the public discussion process, the city explained that since July 2019, starting with the resolution meeting of the Namdo Uibyung History Museum (then Namdo Uibyung History Park) Promotion Committee, citizens' efforts have been united to attract the museum.

In August of the same year, an academic forum for the attraction was held, followed by a citizen signature campaign, and in September, an attraction committee consisting of 913 citizens including volunteer soldier clans, the city council, civic groups, and journalists was formed.

As a result of comprehensive attraction activities centered on the committee, in July 2020, the current Film Theme Park site in Naju was finally selected as the museum construction site among eight cities and counties including Naju.

In March 2021, the city also launched a 'Pan-Citizen Promotion Support Group' with about 400 participants including 14 nationwide volunteer soldier clans, five independence movement organizations in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions, and heads of local institutions and social organizations, continuing public-private cooperation for the museum construction.

However, the city acknowledged that communication with civil society was insufficient before the partial demolition of the theme park and decided to hold citizen briefings before the groundbreaking to provide opportunities for communication about the overall museum construction.

Regarding the claim of free donation of the 110,000-pyeong museum site, the city emphasized that it is "not true."

A city official stated, "According to the business cooperation agreement with Jeollanam-do in December 2020, the museum construction site is permitted for free use, not free donation," and added, "In March this year, with the consent of the city council, the free use permission was notified to Jeollanam-do."

Regarding the excessive demolition budget allocation, the city explained, "Currently, the detailed design service for the theme park demolition is underway, and to reduce project costs, we are carefully reviewing the design including minimizing construction and mixed waste, selecting recyclable materials, and choosing construction methods."

They added, "After contract review, the demolition project will be publicly tendered to select a company."

A city official said, "Although the Film Theme Park was once a representative tourist attraction, it has experienced a long period of stagnation. We will do our best to transform it into a new tourist attraction in harmony with the Namdo Uibyung History Museum."

He continued, "We will also link our city projects such as the creation of a historical forest and Dayatteul waterfront park with the museum construction to develop the area into a sanctuary for stay-type tourism and promote regional economic revitalization."

Naju = Kim Yukbong, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr

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