Mayor Seonghyun Park Requests Cooperation from Congressman Hyangyup Kwon to Address Gwangyang's Key Issues

Maintaining Independent Port Authorities and Designating a National Advanced Strategic Industry Complex
Discussion on Nine Key Issues Including the Seomjingang River Basin Environment Office, Northern Sea Route, and Car Ferry

On August 13, Gwangyang City, Jeonnam-Gwangju Metropolitan Special City, announced on the 14th that Mayor Seonghyun Park visited Congressman Hyangyup Kwon (Democratic Party of Korea) to deliver the “Key Proposal Tasks of Gwangyang City” and request close cooperation to address local issues, including the designation of a national advanced strategic industry specialized complex and the maintenance of the independent system of the four major port authorities.

The meeting was attended by Mayor Seonghyun Park, as well as heads of relevant departments such as the New Industries Division, Steel & Port Division, and Investment & Economy Division. They provided detailed explanations on nine core projects covering the overall municipal administration, including the designation of a secondary battery specialized complex, the attraction of national institutions in the environmental and industrial sectors, and key port issues.

On the afternoon of the 13th, Mayor Sung-Hyun Park of Gwangyang City visited Congressman Hyang-Yeop Kwon to present the "Core Proposal Tasks of Gwangyang City" and requested close cooperation to resolve regional issues such as designation of the National Advanced Strategic Industry Special Zone and maintaining the independent system of the four major port corporations. Provided by Gwangyang City

During this meeting, Mayor Park expressed strong concerns about the government's review of the integration of the four port authorities in Busan, Incheon, Ulsan, and Yeosu-Gwangyang.

He emphasized that the Yeosu-Gwangyang Port Authority, as the core institution managing and operating Yeosu-Gwangyang Port—the only export-import gateway port for the Honam region—and the only national public institution headquartered in the eastern part of Jeonnam-Gwangju Metropolitan Special City, must absolutely maintain its current independent system, taking into account the unique functions of each port, the characteristics of local industries, and regional autonomy.

Congressman Kwon agreed that the issue of integrating port authorities should be addressed from the perspective of national balanced development, beyond just the local context, and responded that he would work closely with relevant ministries and local political circles.

Additionally, there was broad discussion of key issues directly related to Gwangyang’s future growth, such as the designation of the Gwangyang Bay Area as a national advanced strategic industry specialized complex based on a secondary battery raw material supply chain; the establishment and attraction of the Seomjingang River Basin Environment Office to create an integrated water management system for the Seomjingang River—currently the only one of the nation’s five major rivers managed from outside its own basin; the construction of a startup park; support for pilot operation along the Northern Sea Route from Gwangyang Port; the opening of a regular car ferry route; the establishment of a K-Container global production base; the designation of a low-carbon steel special zone; and the attraction of Seoul National University Hospital’s integrated national medical cluster for industrial medicine and rehabilitation.

Mayor Park explained the background for each project, Gwangyang’s competitive advantages, and the necessity of government support, and requested active attention and cooperation from the National Assembly for coordination with relevant ministries and securing national funding.

In particular, he stressed that Gwangyang must leverage its strengths in steel and port industries to establish a new industrial ecosystem by linking secondary batteries, advanced materials, logistics, and medical sectors.

Congressman Kwon concurred on the need to strengthen Gwangyang’s competitiveness in its primary industries and to secure future growth engines, stating that if each project’s rationale and government support requirements are outlined and shared, he will actively review them during ministerial consultations and the National Assembly’s budget review process.

Gwangyang City stated that it will further concretize the follow-up tasks for each project discussed, and will continue to proactively cooperate with Congressman Hyangyup Kwon’s office, the National Assembly, Jeonnam-Gwangju Metropolitan Special City, and relevant ministries to ensure that local issues are translated into tangible outcomes.

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