Councilor Kang Jeongil: "Reconsider Integration of Four Port Authorities... If Pushed Through, Headquarters in Gwangyang"

Co-sponsored by 41 council members; Kang attends Agriculture and Fisheries Committee meeting to present the resolution

Kang Jeongil, chair of the Safety and Construction Committee of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Council and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Gwangyang 2, announced on the 13th that he had sponsored a resolution calling for a full reconsideration of the uniform integration of four port authorities and, if the integration is pushed through, the establishment of the integrated authority's headquarters at Gwangyang Port.

The resolution was co-sponsored on October 1 by 41 fellow council members, including Chair Kang. On October 7, Chair Kang attended a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Committee during the 4th extraordinary session and personally presented the resolution.

Assembly Member Kang Jeongil

Chair Kang said, "Ports across the country have entirely different functions, hinterland industries and regional conditions." He added, "We cannot help but be deeply concerned about whether pushing ahead with a uniform, physical integration without considering these special characteristics and on-the-ground conditions is truly a way to enhance the competitiveness of the nation's ports."

Emphasizing that Yeosu-Gwangyang Port is a key industrial logistics hub directly connected to nationally strategic industries such as steel, petrochemicals and energy, he said, "If the Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority is downgraded to a mere regional headquarters or branch after integration, decision-making authority over port development priorities, investment attraction, budgets and personnel will move outside the region. The region will then be unable to determine the future of its own port, seriously infringing on local autonomy."

Chair Kang also said, "If port integration is an unavoidable policy choice for the government, the national-level core functions and authority created through integration should not be concentrated in any particular region." He strongly argued, "If the government ultimately pushes ahead with integration, the integrated port authority's headquarters must be established at Gwangyang Port to ensure balanced national development and safeguard the future of the southern coastal industrial belt."

He added, "The essence of this discussion is not simply competition to attract the authority's headquarters. It is a matter of great importance involving the allocation of authority over maritime and port policies, the rational distribution of national resources, and where decisions about the future of local communities will be made."

The resolution calls on the government to immediately reconsider its unilateral push to integrate port authorities without regard for on-the-ground conditions and to fully reflect the functions of each port and the views of local residents in its policies. It also calls for the integrated port authority's headquarters to be established at Gwangyang Port in the interests of balanced national development if integration goes ahead, and for the government and National Assembly to institutionalize guarantees of organizational and personnel independence, as well as sustained financial investment, so that the status of Yeosu-Gwangyang Port is not downgraded during integration discussions. The Agriculture and Fisheries Committee passed the resolution as originally proposed.

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