Mayor Kim Byung-su: "Gimpo is the Best Location for Building an International Skating Rink"

Gimpo City Reaffirms Its Clear Advantage as the Optimal Site for the International Skating Rink
Close to Seoul with Excellent Transportation and International Airport Accessibility
Located Within 30 Minutes of Incheon and Gimpo International Airports... 1.5 Times the Size of Taereung

Gimpo City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Kim Byung-su) is attracting attention as the optimal site for relocating the Taereung International Skating Rink due to its excellent transportation accessibility, proximity to international airports, and well-established infrastructure.

Gimpo City International Skating Rink Resolution Rally. Provided by Gimpo City

On the 17th, Gimpo City announced that through expert research and public opinion surveys, it has been reaffirmed that Gimpo holds a clear advantage among candidate sites for the relocation of the international skating rink.

Dr. Hanmin Koo’s team from Yonsei University’s Urban Planning and Development Research Lab recently published a paper analyzing the suitability of constructing a 400m track skating rink within the metropolitan area.

The research team hypothesized that the relocation site should be within the metropolitan area, considering that 72% of ice sports athletes are concentrated in the metropolitan area, the need for student athletes to balance academics, and the existence of the Gangneung Ice Rink in Gangwon Province.

Based on criteria such as subway accessibility, slope, arterial road accessibility, and population density, the research team concluded that the southeastern part of Gimpo City and the southern part of Yangju City, which are close to Seoul and have good transportation access, are advantageous.

In particular, Gimpo City was also evaluated as a region meeting the optimal site conditions for the international skating rink in a survey conducted by the Korea Social Opinion Institute in June last year.

In that survey, the public cited ‘whether it is a metropolitan transportation hub’ and ‘proximity to an international airport’ as the conditions for the new international skating rink site, and expected the new ice rink to serve as ‘an opportunity for a turning point on a new stage.’

Gimpo City, as the optimal site meeting requirements such as airport proximity, metropolitan transportation hub status, athlete training routes, and a new stage, fulfilled all essential requirements including accommodation support by signing a win-win agreement with the Korea Hotel Association last year to attract the international skating rink.

Additionally, last year Gimpo City signed a win-win agreement with Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, and Goyang Special City for the development of ice sports, leading the consolidation of the western region and firmly establishing its position as a key player in the metropolitan area ice sports belt of South Korea.

International Skating Rink Kimpo Hosting Campaign. Provided by Kimpo City

Last year, Gimpo City disclosed the area around Sau-dong, Gimpo, as the site for attracting the Gimpo International Skating Rink, stating that it is accessible within two subway stops from Gimpo Airport, 500 meters from Pungmu Station on the Gimpo Gold Line, 10 minutes from Gimpo International Airport, and about 30 minutes from Incheon International Airport.

In terms of scale, it secures a sufficient seating capacity of 4,300 seats, approximately 1.5 times that of the Taereung International Skating Rink, and is located within the Pungmu Station area urban development project district, where land acquisition procedures were completed in the first half of last year, showcasing the advantage of being able to immediately commence construction with completed infrastructure.

Gimpo City emphasized that attracting the new international skating rink is a stepping stone to enhancing the status of South Korean ice sports and opening a new stage for promising athletes who will lead South Korean ice sports in the future. The city vowed that if it succeeds in attracting the new international skating rink, it will lead the development of the ice sports cluster through ▲ Seoul-Gimpo-Goyang winter sports clustering, ▲ establishment of the Ice Sports Federation and corporate teams, and ▲ nurturing of local youth teams.

Mayor Kim Byung-su of Gimpo City said, “I am confident that Gimpo is the optimal site for building an international skating rink that meets the standards required by the government and the sports community. Expansion is also required in ice sports. For this, the Gimpo location is absolutely necessary.”

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