[6.3 Election] Park Hongryul Urges Maintenance of Naman Main Government Office and Securing Budget for Southwestern Support

"Special Metropolitan City Integration May Hinder Development of Mokpo and the Southwestern Region"

Park Hongryul, the Mokpo mayoral candidate from the National Innovation Party, has called for the maintenance of the main government office in Naman and the preparation of support measures for the southwestern region in relation to the process of promoting the integration of Jeonnam and Gwangju into a special metropolitan city.

On the 13th, during a press conference held at his campaign office, Park stated, "The current structure of discussions surrounding the Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City is highly likely to marginalize the southwestern region, including Mokpo," adding, "The issue of maintaining the main government office in Naman and measures for balanced regional development must be clearly guaranteed."

He particularly expressed concerns regarding the way the integrated government office would be operated: "It was initially expected that the discussions would focus on the Jeonnam Provincial Office, but recently the trend is shifting toward flexible operation of the Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Eastern government offices. This makes it highly likely that administrative functions will ultimately be concentrated in Gwangju."

He further pointed out, "The idea of having the special mayor and city council members rotate between multiple government offices is unrealistic, and in actual administrative operations, everything will inevitably become centered on Gwangju."

Candidate Park also addressed the issue of financial support. He stated, "Recently, as the budgets for the integrated special metropolitan city and the education office have been cut during the National Assembly’s deliberation process, the large-scale support that was promised has also become uncertain. If the financial foundation is shaken, development strategies for the southwestern region will also face setbacks."

He also commented that conflicts within the region have been intensifying over the issue of attracting a medical school to the Jeonnam area.

Park said, "Discussions about establishing a medical school in the Mokpo area have been ongoing for a long time, but as politicians continue to focus on specific regions, the conflict between east and west has only grown. Local National Assembly members cannot be free from responsibility in this regard."

He emphasized, "If the administrative functions of the Naman government office are weakened, the overall competitiveness of the southwest region could be undermined. The integrated government office must be maintained with Naman as its center, and the discussion on integrating the Muan Peninsula should proceed in parallel with the launch of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City."

In local political circles, this press conference is being interpreted as an effort to highlight concerns over the marginalization of the southwestern region during the special metropolitan city integration discussions and to rally local public sentiment.