[Interview] Mayor Byeonggyu Park of Gwangsan District: "The 800 Trillion Won Semiconductor Cluster Must Benefit Citizens' Lives"

Vision for the 9th-Term Local Government: "Connected City Gwangsan"

Emphasizes Redesigning Songjeong Station and Creating Growth Hubs

Presents an Advanced Model for the Gwangju-type Job Initiative

Expanding Financial Base by Upgrading the District to City Status

"The most important task is clear: to successfully support the 800 trillion won Honam Semiconductor Cluster and to connect its achievements to improvements in citizens' lives."

On July 21, Byeonggyu Park, Mayor of Gwangsan District in Jeonnam Gwangju Metropolitan City, said in an interview with The Asia Business Daily, "Our core is to go beyond just attracting semiconductor factories—we must create an industrial ecosystem where both businesses and the region grow together, and where young people choose to stay in the area."

As the main vision for the 9th-term local government, he proposed the concept of "Connected City Gwangsan." His aim is to build a platform city that links Gwangju and Jeonnam, cities and industries, as well as transportation and daily life. He emphasized the importance of the basic local government’s role in connecting the 27 cities, counties, and districts of Jeonnam and Gwangju as a single living and industrial zone, instead of engaging in wasteful regional competition between local governments.

Park Byunggyu, Mayor of Gwangsan District, is explaining the direction of district administration for the 9th term and the response strategy for the Honam Semiconductor Cluster during an interview with The Asia Business Daily at Gwangsan District Office on the 21st.

Mayor Park stated, "By directly leading the Semiconductor Cluster Support Taskforce as District Mayor, I am overseeing permits, communication with residents, and improvements to the local environment using a one-stop approach," adding, "To allow companies to invest right away, we must also rapidly prepare infrastructure such as electricity and water supply."

Gwangsan District plans to launch a "Citizen Roundtable for Responding to the Semiconductor Cluster," involving companies, universities, research institutes, and residents, and to establish cooperation mechanisms to reflect local and on-the-ground opinions in national projects.

"Gwangju Songjeong Station Must Be Reconsidered for the Semiconductor Era"

Mayor Park assessed that, since the development plan for Gwangju Songjeong Station was established before the designation of the semiconductor cluster, a comprehensive review is necessary.

He stated, "In 2025, the daily number of users is expected to be 27,000, and this will likely increase to 37,000 by 2028. With the additional demand from the semiconductor cluster, the current plan clearly has its limitations," and added, "We need to update the plan now, rather than make the mistake of having to overhaul it later."

He continued, "A comprehensive plan is needed to integrate Songjeong Station, the Kumho Tire site, Sochon Industrial Complex, and the Gwangju Military Airport site into a single axis of growth. Since this is difficult for Gwangsan District alone, both the central government and the integrated metropolitan city must actively participate from the master plan stage."

Gwangju Songjeong Station exterior. Provided by Korea Rail Network Authority

As a way to connect the achievements of the semiconductor industry to youth employment and the growth of local enterprises, he suggested the "Gwangju-type Job Model."

Mayor Park noted, "Our experience of creating Gwangju-type jobs through social dialogue among labor, management, civil society, and government is a great asset in the semiconductor era as well," adding, "We will build an industrial ecosystem where good companies and good jobs grow together." He went on, "We aim to improve the quality of life by expanding the social wage to cover housing, care, education, transportation, and culture, and we will also promote pilot projects and legislation for youth, care, and energy transition job zones." He added, "If all preparations proceed quickly and simultaneously, it will also be possible to move up the start of mass production at the Gwangju semiconductor plant."

"The Key to Overcoming Financial Limits Is Upgrading the District to City Status"

To expand the financial base for supporting large-scale national projects, he proposed upgrading the status of Gwangju’s autonomous districts to city level.

If Gwangsan District is upgraded to a city, it could secure an additional 102.6 billion won in general allocation tax on top of the current annual 19.8 billion won in property allocation tax. This would make it possible to directly invest in resident-focused projects such as welfare and care services.

Park Byungkyu, Mayor of Gwangsan District, Jeonnam Gwangju Metropolitan City, signed the 'Citizen Policy Participation Group Formation and Operation Plan' as the first approval of the 9th local government on the 1st. Provided by Gwangsan District

On July 8, Gwangsan District, on behalf of the Gwangju District Mayors' Council, formally initiated discussions on institutional improvements by submitting a proposal to amend the "Special Act on the Integration of Jeonnam and Gwangju Metropolitan City" to lawmaker Yang Bunam.

Mayor Park concluded, "Our goal is not just to become a city with new semiconductor factories, but to make citizens’ lives truly different. We will create a Gwangsan where young people do not leave, where it is good to raise children, and where citizens do not have to worry about retirement, together with our residents."

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