Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, "Focusing on South Coast Tourism, Resident Safety, and Welfare"

"This year, Gyeongnam will take a leap forward in earnest, focusing not only on economic recovery and attracting investment but also on developing tourism along the southern coast, ensuring residents' safety, and expanding welfare."

Governor Park Wan-su of Gyeongnam made these remarks at a New Year's press briefing held on the 16th in the provincial government office's conference room.

Governor Park began by saying, "If last year laid the foundation for Gyeongnam's re-leap, this year will be the year of full-fledged advancement," adding, "Together with the residents, we will create a new era of hope for Gyeongnam."

"Since taking office, we have focused on economic recovery, expanding investment attraction, and revitalizing startups, achieving results such as improving various economic indicators," he said. "This year, along with these efforts, we will concentrate on developing tourism along the southern coast, residents' safety, and expanding welfare."

He emphasized, "The southern coast is the future of our Gyeongnam and the hope of the Republic of Korea," adding, "This year, we plan to intensively promote policies related to the southern coast."

"Until last year, we raised awareness and interest by explaining the tourism development plans, importance, and necessity of the southern coast to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. This year, we will proceed with the planned development projects," he elaborated. "We will also strive to advance key local industries such as defense and nuclear power."

He continued, "It is naturally our duty to look after marginalized residents, and separately, we plan to develop welfare services for residents who are not marginalized to increase satisfaction with welfare."

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, is answering reporters' questions at the 2024 New Year's press conference.
[Photo by Lee Se-ryeong]

Governor Park also mentioned the plan to establish the Space Aviation Agency and build a space aviation complex city in Sacheon, Gyeongnam, scheduled to open around May.

"Currently, only the Space Aviation Agency will be established in Sacheon, but in the future, Sacheon, where the Space Aviation Agency will serve as the command tower, will become the space aviation capital," he said. "We must prepare for space aviation-related companies, research institutions, and government organizations to naturally gather in Sacheon."

"The Space Aviation Agency has special provisions regarding hiring methods, salaries, rank systems, and nationality, so domestic and international technical personnel will be secured," he explained. "If Gyeongsang National University, recently selected as a glocal university, establishes a space aviation college and a graduate school in connection, we will be able to cultivate space aviation experts independently."

"Although the special law for the Space Aviation Agency was passed excluding support for residential conditions, the Ministry of Science and Technology plans to secure necessary funding by creating related enforcement ordinances, rules, and subordinate laws in consultation with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance," he said. "Since the Space Aviation Agency is a city development project, our provincial finances will not be excessively burdened, but we will actively support it at the local government level until it gets on track after establishment."

Regarding the administrative integration with Busan, which had been stalled due to Busan's Expo bid, he assessed, "The atmosphere is not yet ripe."

"Busan and Gyeongnam residents have not yet actively sympathized, and last year, they were busy with the Expo bid, so there was no time to consider administrative integration," he said. "This year, we will discuss with Busan City to inform Gyeongnam residents and Busan citizens about the pros and cons of integration and help them make a judgment."

"If sufficient consensus is formed, we will discuss with Busan and seek the opinions of residents at an appropriate time," he added. "We are planning for around the second half of this year or the first half of next year."

He also said, "Last year, the People Power Party submitted the Mega City Special Act, but I do not know the political discussions on this. However, the need for the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) region to unite to create a bipolar system to counter the Seoul metropolitan area's unipolar system remains unchanged."

Governor Park said, "I think we need to excel in all fields, so shortcomings in welfare and culture are visible," adding, "This year, I will work to fill in the gaps and pay attention not only to adults but also to the concerns of teenagers."

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