Park Golf Association "Management and Operation Ordinance Unfair" vs Changwon City "Will Correct Mistakes"

Gyeongnam Changwon Special City, which has been seeking solutions to the management and operation issues of park golf courses through ordinance enactment, announced its position on the opposition from the Changwon City Park Golf Association, which operates the park golf courses on consignment, on the 15th.

The ordinance on the management and operation of Changwon City park golf courses, which the association opposes, was proposed on the 30th of last month by City Council member Son Tae-hwa and others. It mainly stipulates that park golf courses in Changwon City will be operated directly by the city or consigned to the Changwon Facilities Corporation.

The city stated, “The Daesan-myeon park golf course, established on national property, has legal restrictions on private consignment. Recently, there have been criticisms that the national land park golf courses violated the law, and accordingly, the Nakdong River Environmental Office issued a corrective order, and we are currently taking normalization measures.”

“We are preparing a plan for an organization with public nature to manage and operate the park golf courses on consignment so that all citizens can freely use the park golf courses,” the city added.

It continued, “We will create management and operation plans that comply with legal standards,” and said, “For park golf courses owned by Changwon City, we will open the doors to organizations that have public nature recognized by the city, financial transparency, and operational systems, making the facilities coexist with local residents.”

“We will usher in an era of 500 holes of park golf courses by 2026,” and added, “We will do our best to make it a lifestyle sports facility where men and women of all ages can enjoy fairly and comfortably.”

In front of the Changwon Special City Council in Gyeongnam, the Changwon City Park Golf Association is urging the suspension of the submission of the ordinance on the management and operation of Changwon City Park Golf Course.
[Photo by Changwon Jungbu Police Station]

On the same day, the Changwon Park Golf Association held rallies at Changwon City Hall and the City Council, calling for the suspension of the ordinance on the management and operation of park golf courses from being submitted to the plenary session.

The association claimed, “For 17 years, we have self-funded the costs with individual membership fees and contributions, planting and managing the grass on the park golf courses, and managing them independently,” and argued, “The city and city council unilaterally enacting an ordinance on the operation and management of park golf courses is an act that tramples on members’ rights, citizens’ autonomy, and health rights.”

They stated, “We absolutely oppose operating park golf for profit,” and urged, “Recognize the unfairness of the ordinance and either revise it or put it on hold.”

Amid ongoing conflicts surrounding the ordinance, the Changwon City Council, under the authority of Chairman Kim I-geun, postponed the submission to the plenary session on the day and decided to further collect opinions from the association and others.

Kim I-geun, Chairman of the Changwon Special City Council in Gyeongnam, is speaking to the Changwon Park Golf Association about the ordinance on the management and operation of Changwon City Park Golf Course.
[Photo by Changwon Jungbu Police Station]

Earlier, on the 13th, Council member Son Tae-hwa pointed out issues such as park golf membership fees, illegal expansion of golf courses, and lack of approval from the river management authority during the 127th Changwon City Council 2nd plenary session’s administrative questioning.

The Changwon City Park Golf Association, consisting of 110 clubs and about 8,400 members, has been operating the Daesan Park Golf Course in Daesan-myeon, Dong-eup, Uichang-gu, Changwon City on consignment since September 2019.

The consignment agreement states that any Changwon citizen can use the golf course free of charge; however, the association collected entrance fees ranging from 110,000 to 190,000 KRW, and then 6,000 KRW monthly for facility and operation fees, and prohibited non-members from using the course.

Changwon City obtained occupancy permission for national land from the Nakdong River Environmental Office from 2019 to 2020 and established an 18-hole park golf course, but from 2022, the association expanded it independently to 90 holes in response to a surge in users, operating up to 108 holes recently.

In response, the Nakdong River Environmental Office repeatedly sent restoration orders to Changwon City from 2022, and the city began normalization work.

In front of Changwon City Council in Changwon Special City, Gyeongnam, the Changwon Park Golf Association is urging the suspension of the submission of the ordinance on the management and operation of Changwon Park Golf Course.
[Photo by Changwon Jungbu Police Station]

The Nakdong River bank in Daesan-myeon, where the park golf course is located, is national land river area. According to Article 33, Paragraph 5 of the River Act, local governments that have obtained occupancy permission must get approval from the river management authority to lease to private parties. However, it was revealed that when the agreement was made with the association in 2019, such approval was not obtained.

Mayor Hong Nam-pyo, who received the administrative questioning, said, “The procedure to obtain approval from the river management authority was missing, and from an operational perspective, not charging usage fees when issuing occupancy permits is also subject to approval. It seems there was a mistake in not thoroughly reviewing these aspects,” and added, “We will correct the mistakes and simultaneously address the issue in connection with the enactment of related ordinances.”

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