Opening of Gyeongju City Council's 251st Extraordinary Session ... Focus on 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant MACSTOR'

Ongoing until the 24th... Ruling party lawmaker also urges "Must hold a referendum for Makseuteo residents"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] The Gyeongju City Council of Gyeongsangbuk-do began the 251st extraordinary session from the 3rd to the 24th, lasting 22 days.

During this extraordinary session, the council will approve the settlement of accounts for the previous fiscal year and the expenditure of contingency funds, along with handling ▲ the agreement on rent reduction for COVID-19 victims and benevolent landlords ▲ the ordinance on support for dietary education ▲ partial amendment of the ordinance on road occupancy fee collection ▲ and the agreement on entrusting the management corporation.

Chairman Yoon Byung-gil said in his greeting, "Based on the achievements of the first half of the two years, I hope the second half will also be a productive and practical council," adding, "Since there are many issues to consider together, such as revitalizing investment attraction and the construction of the Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant's temporary spent nuclear fuel storage facility (Macster), please gather wisdom to solve these current issues."

Assemblyman Han Young-tae (Democratic Party, Chair of the Council Operations Committee) targeted Mayor Joo Nak-young during his 5-minute free speech, saying, "Since March, anti-nuclear citizen groups have been continuing a tent protest requesting the suspension of the public discussion on the construction of the Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant Macster and have officially demanded the mayor of Gyeongju to hold a referendum among residents for or against it, but they have been ignored."

He continued, "In the 2005 referendum on the acceptance of the low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal site, 89.5% of Gyeongju citizens voted in favor because they trusted the special law clause stating that related facilities for spent nuclear fuel should not be constructed in the hosting area," adding, "However, the Gyeongju city administration is being dragged along by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's logic for Macster construction, contrary to the citizens' wishes."

Assemblyman Han further stated, "As was the case during the disposal site acceptance vote, the choice to accept or reject the construction of a storage facility that violates the law should also belong to the local residents," repeatedly advocating for a referendum, and emphasized, "The administration should not strive for Macster construction but should work to keep the promise of prohibiting the removal of high-level nuclear waste."

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Gyeongju City Council selected 11 members for the Special Committee on Budget and Settlement to review the approval of the 2019 fiscal year settlement and contingency fund expenditure, appointing Assemblyman Lee Cheol-woo as the chairman.

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