Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo Requests National Funding Support for Tram, etc. in Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho

Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo met with Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Choo Kyung-ho to request national funding support for projects including the construction of the Daejeon Urban Railway Line 2 tram.

On the 10th, Daejeon City announced that Mayor Lee visited the Government Sejong Complex and held a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Choo.

Mayor Lee conveyed to Deputy Prime Minister Choo the achievements of Daejeon’s first year under the 8th elected administration, including ▲designation of a nano and semiconductor national industrial complex ▲relocation of defense contractors to Daejeon ▲designation of a specialized district for space industry cluster research and talent development. He then requested national funding support for three regional priority projects: ▲tram construction project ▲webtoon intellectual property advanced cluster establishment project ▲space technology innovation talent development center establishment.

Daejeon City is promoting the tram project with a goal of completion by 2028. The core of the project is to install a tram line with a total length of 38.1 km, including 45 stations and one vehicle depot within the section. Currently, the tram construction project is undergoing a re-evaluation of project plan appropriateness by the Korea Development Institute (KDI).

On this day, Mayor Lee requested Deputy Prime Minister Choo to include 78 billion KRW of national funding for the tram construction project next year and to support expedited procedures to enable early groundbreaking.

Separately, Mayor Lee proposed that 1.5 billion KRW for basic and detailed design costs be reflected in next year’s national budget to facilitate the smooth progress of the webtoon intellectual property advanced cluster establishment project.

This project is planned to be implemented by 2027 in Jung-dong, Dong-gu, Daejeon, constructing a webtoon enterprise incubation and creator support cluster facility with three underground floors and six above-ground floors, totaling 8,016 square meters of floor area.

The total project cost is 43.5 billion KRW, funded by 43.4% national funds and 56.6% local funds. Daejeon City envisions leading the webtoon industry in the Chungcheong region and strengthening the competitiveness of the K-content industry through the cluster establishment.

Mayor Lee also requested that 1 billion KRW for design costs for the ‘Space Technology Innovation Talent Development Center’ be included in next year’s national budget.

The establishment of the Space Technology Innovation Talent Development Center aims for completion by 2028 with a total project cost of 48.1 billion KRW, equally funded by national and local governments. The center will be constructed next to the KAIST Satellite Research Institute on a site with one underground floor and five above-ground floors, covering a total floor area of 7,920 square meters, to cultivate future space specialists.

Additionally, Mayor Lee proposed to Deputy Prime Minister Choo to support Daejeon’s designation as a semiconductor national advanced strategic industry specialized complex to ensure the successful establishment of the ‘Nano and Semiconductor National Industrial Complex’ selected last March.

Previously, Daejeon City applied to the government for designation of approximately 5.3 million square meters of the nano and semiconductor national industrial complex candidate site and about 35 million square meters of the Daedeok Research and Development Special Zone as a semiconductor national advanced strategic industry specialized complex. The selection results are expected to be announced within this month.

Mayor Lee stated, "The coming year is a critical time to put major regional projects on a normal track," adding, "Daejeon City will work closely with the central government, the National Assembly, and local lawmakers until the government budget for next year is finalized to make every effort to secure national funding for key projects."

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