[Interview] Jeong Myeong-geun, Mayor of Hwaseong: "28,500 Companies Driving Hwaseong's Growth"

"Fostering 3 Major Growth Industries: Semiconductors, Future Cars, and Bio"
"Leading Growth through Balanced Development Considering Regional Characteristics"

"A city of one million." This is a phrase that has recently been inseparably attached to Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province. Having surpassed a population of one million at the end of last year, Hwaseong City is expected to be designated as the fifth special city nationwide by January next year if the current population growth trend continues.

"The development of Hwaseong City has been driven by corporate growth." In an interview with Asia Economy, Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun explained the reason why Hwaseong City shows a notably outstanding population increase even in a situation where not only local but also metropolitan cities are worried about population decline.

Jung Myung-geun, mayor of Hwaseong City, emphasizes qualitative growth as much as the quantitative growth of Hwaseong City, a city of one million.
[Photo by Hwaseong City]

In fact, Hwaseong is home to about 28,500 companies, the largest number in Gyeonggi Province, centered around large corporations such as Samsung Electronics and Kia. There are currently 22 industrial complexes either in operation or under development. As a result, the local Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) is also the highest among basic local governments nationwide, at 91.0417 trillion won.

He cited 'young population' and 'transport infrastructure' as Hwaseong's advantages, in addition to its natural conditions. "The average age in Hwaseong City is 38.9 years (as of the end of last year), nearly 6 years younger than the national average of 44.8 years," he introduced, calling it "the youngest and most dynamic city in the country." Furthermore, he added, "With highways such as Gyeongbu, Seohaean, and the Metropolitan Area 2nd Ring Expressway, as well as railway networks including SRT and the Suin Line double-track subway, accessibility is excellent, so naturally companies flock here."

"We will attract investment in semiconductors, bio, and future cars for greater leap forward"

Mayor Jeong has been emphasizing a "greater leap forward" during recent visits to 29 towns and townships within the city to communicate with citizens as the new year begins. He believes Hwaseong City has reached a new turning point to qualitatively advance beyond mere quantitative growth.

He stresses, "Attracting investment in future strategic industries is essential for a greater leap forward." This is also why he is particularly focused on his campaign pledge to attract 20 trillion won in investment during his term. He revealed that his recent visit to CES 2024 held in Las Vegas, USA, was for attracting advanced domestic and international companies. The investment amount achieved so far is about 7.5 trillion won. To this end, the city established an Investment Attraction Division in July last year to concentrate investment attraction capabilities that had been dispersed across individual departments.

"We will attract companies in the three major future strategic industries of Hwaseong?future cars, bio, and semiconductors?to revitalize the local economy and create a virtuous cycle ecosystem of corporate reinvestment," Mayor Jeong explained. "We will expand incentives for large-scale investment companies to secure competitiveness."

"Startup investment fund expanded from 69 billion to 200 billion won... Growth of region and companies together"

Jung Myung-geun, Mayor of Hwaseong City, explained that this year he will present "improving the quality of life for citizens" as a core administrative task and focus efforts on balanced regional development.
[Photo by Hwaseong City]

Mayor Jeong is also focusing on improving the corporate investment environment. In June last year, he signed a business agreement with the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) Southern Regional Headquarters to provide 500 LH rental housing units for dormitory use by small and medium-sized enterprises in the city.

A startup investment fund of 69 billion won has also been established, and so far, 10 billion won has been invested in seven companies within the city. Mayor Jeong revealed plans to "expand the fund size to 200 billion won through additional capital contributions."

He said, "In March last year, we launched a Small and Medium Enterprise Support Advisory Group by appointing local businesspeople, government-affiliated organizations, and university professors as advisory members to resolve corporate difficulties and advise on industrial development." He explained, "We will actively cooperate with the advisory group to create a city where the region and companies grow together."

"Citizen quality of life and balanced development are top priorities"

Mayor Jeong identified "improving citizens' quality of life" as the core task of city administration this year. "Although conditions are challenging due to decreased tax revenue caused by the economic downturn, we will focus administrative power to ensure no area is neglected," he said. In particular, Mayor Jeong emphasized, "The climate crisis is actually becoming a new opportunity for Hwaseong City." He promised, "With ‘H-Techno Valley,’ the first RE100 industrial complex in Gyeonggi Province to be established in Yanggam-myeon, we will spare no administrative support to ensure that all future industrial complexes in Hwaseong are developed as RE100 complexes."

However, he views resolving the imbalance between east and west and between urban and rural areas, which emerged during the city's expansion, as a task to be addressed. He explained, "It is true that differences between regions have occurred amid the explosive growth of the city. We recognize the characteristics and differences of each region and prioritize balanced development, or ‘Hwaseong-type balanced development,’ as the top value of city administration to achieve qualitative balance."

"We will establish an internal ring road network covering major areas of Hwaseong"

To this end, since 2022, the city has launched the ‘Hope City Citizen Participation Group’ with 100 citizens participating to design the city's future. In July last year, through organizational restructuring, the city also established the ‘Balanced Development Officer’ position to serve as the control tower for balanced development strategies. Mayor Jeong also revealed plans to promote the construction of a ‘Hwaseong-type internal ring road’ to improve accessibility to major areas. The ring road network will connect key Hwaseong hubs such as Dongtan, Jinan, Bongdam, Songsan Green City, Namyang, Hyangnam, and Yanggam in a circular route.

Mayor Jeong said, "Hwaseong is a rapidly growing city, but it is a city with an even more promising future." He pledged, "We will do our best to make Hwaseong a city full of job opportunities, leisure and culture, and a city where every citizen can proudly say, ‘I live in Hwaseong!’"

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