Mayor Lee Hyunjae: "Attracting 10 Trillion Won Investment... Will Complete a 'Job-Residence-Leisure' Self-Sufficient City by 2030"

Hanam City Holds 100th Day Press Conference for 9th Mayoral Term
City Administration Focuses on ‘Corporations and Jobs’
Development of Gyosan AI Cluster and Camp Colburn
Simultaneous Launch of K-Culture Complex and K-Hangang National Garden in Misa Island
Mayor Lee Hyunjae: “Building a Sustainable Growth Structure”

Mayor Lee Hyunjae of Hanam City emphasized, "I will create a self-sufficient city of Hanam where 'Job', referring to available work opportunities, 'Residence', meaning convenient housing, and 'Leisure', allowing citizens to enjoy culture and nature, all come together within one city."

Lee Hyun Jae, Mayor of Hanam City, is explaining the achievements of key campaign promises and the administrative direction for the next four years at a press conference held in the city hall's main conference room on the 6th. Photo by Janggu Itz

Hanam City, Gyeonggi Province, plans to attract investments totaling 10 trillion won by 2030. The city aims to establish an artificial intelligence (AI) industry hub in Gyosan New City and create both a K-Culture Complex and a K-Hangang National Garden on Misa Island in order to increase corporations and jobs. By expanding its comparatively weak industrial and tax bases relative to its population growth, Hanam intends to advance as a “Job-Residence-Leisure” city where people can work, live, and enjoy life.

At the 100-day inauguration press conference held in the large conference room at City Hall on the 6th, Mayor Lee stated, "While the 8th term focused on laying the foundations for urban growth, the first 100 days of the 9th term have been devoted to concretizing and implementing our commitments to citizens," setting forth the city administration's direction for the next four years.

If the 8th-term administration established the groundwork for urban growth in sectors such as transportation, education, and welfare, the 9th term administration aims to boost the city’s economic capacity through corporate attraction and job creation.

The highest priority task highlighted by the mayor on this day was to enhance the city’s self-sufficiency by attracting more companies. According to Hanam City, as of 2023, the city’s per capita GRDP was 27.04 million won, ranking 24th in Gyeonggi Province, and amounting to only one-sixth the level of Seoul’s Gangnam District (180 million won). In 2025, the municipal corporate income tax, a key component of the tax base generated from corporate activity, is projected to be 33 billion won, which is one-ninth of Icheon City's 303.1 billion won.

The city diagnosed that although demand for transportation, education, and welfare is skyrocketing as the population increases, the industrial foundation to support this remains relatively weak. Instead of cutting expenditures, the city proposes to expand the tax base and job opportunities through corporate attraction as a solution.

Previously, in the 8th term, Hanam City attracted 13 companies, including Sungwon Adpia, resulting in around 1 trillion won in investment and the creation of approximately 2,500 jobs. Entering the 9th term, the target has drastically increased to 10 trillion won.

The core project is an AI Innovation Cluster to be developed on self-sufficient land in Gyosan New City with an estimated investment of 3 trillion won. The city plans to nurture this project as an advanced industry center, with participation expected from leading institutions such as POSTECH, Carnegie Mellon University, National University of Singapore, and KT Cloud. ‘Camp Colburn’ will be developed as a complex economic hub with shopping, cultural, distribution, and work functions. The targeted completion date is 2032.

Lee Hyun Jae, Mayor of Hanam City, is explaining the main achievements of his pledges and the direction of city administration for the next four years at a press conference held in the city hall's large conference room on the 6th. Photo by Jang Gu Ij.

The other main pillar of the 10 trillion won investment attraction strategy is the simultaneous development of the "K-Culture Complex" and the "K-Hangang National Garden" in the Misa Island area. Immediately upon taking office, Mayor Lee approved the creation of a K-Culture Cultural City Task Force as his “first signed decision,” and in July, officially launched it as a public-private cooperation entity.

In a meeting between the Governor of Gyeonggi Province and city and county mayors held that same month, Mayor Lee proposed developing about 70% of Misa Island as the K-Hangang National Garden and the remaining 30% as the K-Culture Complex. The National Garden will include themed gardens and walking trails leveraging the waterfront ecosystem of the Hangang River, while the complex is planned to attract K-pop concert halls, film production studios, and clusters of culture and media companies.

The city plans to attract performance and video production functions to create permanent jobs and extend visitor stays by encouraging visitors to explore both the garden and the Hangang River waterfront areas. To ensure that tourist spending on accommodations, food, and shopping supports the local economy, the city will link surrounding facilities such as a five-star hotel in Mangwol-dong, music fountains, and water screens in Misa Lake Park.

The city also introduced overseas private sector development initiatives. Eric Trump, Executive Vice President of the Trump Group, visited Hanam twice in February to inspect potential development sites. In August, Base Group announced it would pursue building a "Trump International Golf Club" in Hanam in partnership with the Trump Organization. Hanam City welcomed this announcement.

During the first 100 days of the 9th term, the city accelerated projects directly affecting citizens’ daily lives. Among its five major sectors—economic/cultural, residential/urban, transportation, education, and welfare—the city announced that it had launched or entered full implementation phases for 13 key projects.

The flagship project is the Gyosan school complex. Planned for the future site of Namhan Middle School in Gyosan New City, this facility was selected in August through a competition organized by the Ministry of Education. Covering a total floor area of 8,789 square meters and with a project budget of approximately 48.1 billion won, it will feature an indoor swimming pool, child care center, community culture center, and a multipurpose gymnasium. Designed to be used by both students and residents, completion is targeted for 2030.

In the childcare sector, the city opened a public Kids Cafe and an integrated care center within the Wirye Multi-purpose Sports Center. Childcare duties for infants, children, and elementary school students, previously divided across several departments, will be unified under the childcare policy division.

Free influenza vaccinations for all age groups will also be gradually expanded; this year, they are offered to those aged 60 to 64. Other major projects announced for the first 100 days include: developing an 18-hole park golf course in Dangjeong Neighborhood Park, expanding Gam-il’s sports infrastructure, installing region-specific smart shelters, reducing noise at the Wirye Combined Heat and Power Plant, and expanding the city gas supply in Gambuk-dong. The lineup also includes creating and renovating eco-friendly forest trails, installing odor control devices in the sewage system, and providing water bill discounts for families with multiple children.

Lee Hyunjae, mayor of Hanam City, explains the key campaign achievements and the administrative direction for the next four years at a press briefing held in the city hall's main conference room on the 6th. Photo by Jiok Jungoo

The city is also speeding up the expansion of transportation, education, and welfare networks to complete the Job-Residence-Leisure city vision. Alongside attracting companies, Hanam will upgrade its infrastructure in these areas to support a lifestyle where jobs are nearby and residents can enjoy culture and nature all within the city.

In transportation, the city plans to open the Gangil–Misa section of Subway Line 9 as soon as possible and complete the opening of Line 3 on schedule. The city will also advocate for the extension of the Wirye–Sinsa Line to Hanam and the inclusion of stops for the GTX-D line at Hwangsan and Gyosan in the national railroad network plan.

In education, the city is working to establish the Hanam Office of Education. A temporary office has been set up on the 6th floor of the Hanam Integrated Welfare Town, and construction of the Children’s English Library is scheduled for 2026, with the Children’s Center planned for 2027. The city will also expand age-specific educational facilities and customized support programs.

Welfare initiatives will focus on enhancing support across the life cycle, from birth and childcare to youth and senior citizens. The city will unify care services for infants through to elementary students under one system, and progressively expand youth transportation subsidies, adulthood celebration grants, senior transportation benefits, and honorary payments for veterans.

Hanam City aims to promote these improvements in living conditions in tandem with attracting businesses and creating jobs, ultimately fostering a sustainable urban growth structure where citizens settle in the city and fuel the local economy through their spending.

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