Muan-gun Joint Countermeasure Committee Strongly Opposes Gwangju Institute Poll Released by Jeonnam Province

"Is It a Poll or Public Manipulation? Throwing Muan Residents into Confusion"

Questioning Whether Poll Results from the 5th Can Change Within Two Days

Objective and Reliable Internal Poll to Be Conducted Soon

The Gwangju Combat Airfield Muan Relocation Opposition Pan-Citizen Countermeasure Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Pan-Committee) strongly refuted the explanatory materials on the public opinion survey regarding the integrated relocation of Gwangju civilian and military airports by Jeollanam-do on the 18th.

According to the Pan-Committee on the 19th, Jeollanam-do held a press briefing on the public opinion survey conducted by the Gwangju Institute from the 7th, targeting residents of Muan County and Hampyeong County.

Jeollanam-do announced to Muan County, "The Gwangju civilian airport and military airport should be integrated and relocated to Muan Airport. The integrated relocation of Gwangju civilian and military airports to Muan Airport is the correct answer. There is a need to create a forum for public discussion in Muan County."

Additionally, to Hampyeong County, they distributed explanatory materials stating, "Since the domestic flights of Gwangju are reflected in the national plan to be relocated to Muan Airport, the relocation of the civilian airport is not possible, and asking about the integrated relocation of civilian and military airports is inappropriate."

Vice Chairman Im Dong-hyun (left) and Councilor Lee Ho-sung (right) of the Muan County Council in Jeollanam-do are staging a head-shaving protest at 2 p.m. on March 28 in the plaza of the Jeollanam-do Provincial Office.
[Photo by Seo Young-seo]

In response, the Pan-Committee pointed out that residents of Muan County have consistently opposed in all public opinion surveys conducted so far, and suddenly the survey results conducted by the Gwangju Institute showed a difference of more than 12% within two days compared to the survey conducted by Segye Ilbo on the 5th (37.8% in favor, 58.1% opposed), calling it a bogus survey and dismissing it as worthless.

In particular, looking at the contents of the Gwangju Institute's survey, they criticized it as a manipulation of public opinion, conducted by including unreliable and unconfirmed content such as "promises of national support, 1 trillion won in regional development support funds, new town construction, and special support funds" as if they were confirmed, thereby misleading the residents.

Furthermore, they pointed out, "Hampyeong has already announced that it only wishes to attract a military airport, not a civilian airport, and since each region has its own characteristics, forcibly pushing it to Muan County unilaterally is an act of Jeollanam-do representing the interests of Gwangju City while ignoring the will of the provincial residents."

They added, "In the case of Daegu New Airport, unlike Muan County, Gunwi County and Uiseong County started from a sense of crisis over regional extinction and secured national support SOC such as the construction of a 25 km east-west road through Gunwi County, the establishment of an airport railroad (Daegu?New Airport?Uiseong Station), and the construction of a four-lane road from Gyeongbuk Provincial Office to Uiseong. The argument to relocate to Muan County, which already has SOC, to secure more regional development funds deprives other regions of opportunities to lead regional development."

Referring to the 2017 data on the noise exposure area of the Gwangju military airport, they stated that the area exposed to 55 WECPNL or higher reached 461.2 km², which is larger than the entire area of Muan County at 450.9 km², and since this noise level exceeds the inter-floor noise standard of 39 dB, it is as if telling the residents to give up their lives and pursuit of happiness, expressing indignation at the explanatory materials.

They also refuted point by point the claim of additionally purchasing three types of zones, stating that while constructing the new airport on 4.63 million pyeong (15.3 km²), the noise area of 85 WECPNL in the Gwangju area is 12.1 million pyeong, and the rural area of Yecheon has 80 WECPNL covering 26 million pyeong. If all these were to be purchased, regional development support funds would be out of the question, and no residents of Muan County would be fooled by such sweet talk.

Park Moon-jae, the co-chairman of the Pan-Committee, stated, "The residents of Muan County will never be swayed by this public opinion survey, and if the military airport is included in Gwangju, there is no need for a civilian airport." He added, "We will conduct our own public opinion survey soon to accurately grasp the opinions of the residents."

He continued, "We hope that Gwangju City and Jeollanam-do will not mislead the residents of Muan County with favorable and unconfirmed flowery language but show objectivity and reliability."

Muan = Oh Hwan-joo, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy just8440@asiae.co.kr

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