Three Pillars of Innovation: Economy, Settlement, and Space... Gumi City Relaunches as Korea’s Central City

Full-scale Launch of 9th-Term Growth Strategy
Accelerating Investment Attraction, Everyday Economic Recovery, and New Airport Economic Zone

After laying the groundwork for a new leap forward in the 8th term of the local administration, Gumi City is accelerating efforts to restore its status as Korea’s leading industrial city by advancing "economic innovation," "settlement innovation," and "spatial innovation" as the three main pillars for the 9th term, which began in July 2026.

Gumi City Hall Panorama
Photo by Gumi City

The city has launched initiatives to secure new growth engines, prioritizing noticeable changes for residents across areas such as investment attraction, the local economy, and urban space restructuring.

During the 8th term, the city established a foundation for growth by entering the era of a 2 trillion won budget, attracting 16 trillion won in investments, and securing six core national projects.

Additionally, Gumi enhanced its urban competitiveness by successfully hosting the Asian Athletics Championships, revitalizing its signature festivals, seeing an increase in births, and expanding the metropolitan transportation network.

◆ The key focus of the 9th term is economy.

Within just 15 days of taking office, the city is on the verge of securing investments worth 1 trillion won. The administration is concentrating its efforts on fostering advanced industries and ensuring stable investment, in line with large-scale investment plans from Samsung and LG. It aims to expand the ecosystem for future industries through the designation of specialized clusters for robotics, semiconductors, and defense, as well as by establishing an AI testbed industrial complex. At the same time, the city is working to ensure that the benefits of growth reach local commercial districts and small business owners, thereby driving recovery in the real economy of everyday life.

◆ The city is also advancing settlement innovation in earnest.

Through urban redevelopment, improvement of the urban environment, and expansion of living social overhead capital (SOC), Gumi intends to enhance the quality of life for citizens. In rural areas, it will expand infrastructure, educational opportunities, and settlement support to promote balanced development between urban and rural communities.

◆ Spatial innovation is focused on building a new airport economic zone.

The old Bangnim site will be reborn as an industrial and cultural complex. Infrastructure projects such as the construction of the Gumi–New Airport railway, the establishment of the new East Gumi Station, the stopping of KTX at Gumi Station, and the early commencement of the Gumi–Gunwi expressway will create an integrated transportation network that seamlessly connects railway, road, and airport systems.

Jangho Kim, Mayor of Gumi, stated, "The 9th term marks a crucial turning point that will determine Gumi’s future. By simultaneously advancing investment, industry, quality of life, and urban innovation, we will reestablish Gumi as a central city of the Republic of Korea."

The success or failure of Gumi’s 9th term will depend on how effectively it can link large-scale investment attraction to improvements in local employment, neighborhood economies, and settlement conditions for residents.

When the results of growth become part of citizens’ daily lives, the "New Hope Gumi Era" will become a reality.

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