Naju Civic Committee for 'Second-Round Public Institution Relocation' Officially Launches

317 Figures from Across Sectors Join Effort, Urging Government to Prioritize Existing Innovation Cities for Relocation

As the second round of public기관 relocation to provincial regions approaches, efforts to attract public institutions to Naju Bitgaram Innovation City are gaining momentum.

A private-sector-led, citizen-wide organization to attract investment was officially launched to strengthen the industrial and research base of Naju Bitgaram Innovation City and establish the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City as a hub for balanced national development. Provided by a reader.

A private-sector-led civic organization officially launched to strengthen the industrial and research base of Naju Bitgaram Innovation City and establish the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City as a hub for balanced national development.

The Naju Civic Committee for Attracting Public Institutions to the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City held its launch ceremony at 2 p.m. on October 30 at the Naju Bitgaram Complex Culture and Sports Center, with around 300 committee members and residents in attendance.

The ceremony included welcoming remarks by the committee leadership, congratulatory speeches by distinguished guests, a report on the committee's activity plan, the announcement of a statement calling for public institutions to relocate to the area, and a pledge performance in which all attendees took part with pickets.

Former Gwangju Mayor Park Gwang-tae, former National Agricultural Cooperative Federation President Kim Byeong-won, Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Han Sang-won, and former Korea Electric Power Corporation President Cho Hwan-ik joined the committee as its four co-chairs. Kim Seong-eui, president of the Naju Association of Gwangju Residents, will serve as secretary-general and oversee its operations.

A total of 317 experts and local figures from fields including energy, ICT, semiconductors, agriculture and life sciences, culture and the arts, and the media also joined as committee members, bringing together the region's capacity to attract public institutions.

In their remarks, the committee's leadership said, "Dispersing public institutions inevitably weakens their links with existing industrial bases and reduces policy effectiveness. In line with the government's principle of prioritizing existing innovation cities for relocation, we will mobilize the full strength of the civic community to ensure public institutions are concentrated in the proven Naju Bitgaram Innovation City."

Assemblyman Shin Jeong-hun, Naju Mayor Yoon Byung-tae, and Naju City Council Chair Kim Gwan-yong attended the launch ceremony, lending support to the private-sector-led effort to attract public institutions.

Assemblyman Shin Jeong-hun said, "The second relocation of public institutions must be a key pillar of balanced national development, overcoming the one-sided concentration of activity in the Seoul metropolitan area and laying the foundation for regions to grow independently. The government's principle of concentrating institutions in existing innovation cities must be implemented consistently in the actual selection process."

Naju Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, "Jeonnam and Gwangju have achieved the first-ever integration of regional administrative governments and established the country's only joint innovation city, shared by Gwangju and Jeonnam. They should therefore receive preferential treatment, and expanded relocation should be pursued in the second round of public institution relocations."

He added, "We will attract the integrated headquarters of the five power generation companies and other institutions to Bitgaram Innovation City, which has an unparalleled industry-academia-research foundation anchored by Korea Electric Power Corporation and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology, and develop it into a hub for regional innovation and growth."

Naju City Council Chair Kim Gwan-yong said, "The key to the second relocation of public institutions is not simply increasing the number of institutions, but completing the industrial ecosystem around the existing industry-academia-research foundation. Public institutions should be concentrated in the well-prepared Bitgaram Innovation City to create a virtuous cycle linking research and development (R&D), business attraction, and job creation."

Co-chair Han Sang-won then read out a statement on behalf of the 317 committee members, urging the government to fully implement the five principles for the second relocation of public institutions and promptly finalize its relocation plan.

The statement highlighted Bitgaram Innovation City's strengths, including its renewable energy potential, energy industry base, and operation of the country's only four energy-specialized zones. It also called for the integrated headquarters of the five power generation companies to be relocated to Naju.

The statement adopted at the ceremony is to be officially delivered to the relevant government bodies, including the Presidential Office and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as well as the National Assembly.

The committee will focus on four key tasks: advising on strategies and support plans for attracting public institutions; conducting joint efforts to attract institutions with the government and National Assembly; establishing a public-private-academic-political cooperation framework; and building public consensus and broadening civic support.

A committee representative said, "We will continue our comprehensive, field-focused efforts until attracting public institutions produces tangible results. We ask residents and the local community to remain engaged and take part in the effort to successfully attract public institutions in the second round."

Naju Bitgaram Innovation City is the country's only joint innovation city shared by Gwangju and Jeonnam. It is home to major public institutions in the energy sector, including Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Power Exchange, KEPCO KPS, and KEPCO KDN, as well as institutions in agriculture and life sciences, information and communications, and culture and the arts.

Its energy industry is supported by a foundation for industry-academia-research cooperation, further strengthened by its links with the Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), the country's only energy-specialized university.

Local authorities expect that concentrating public institutions in the area by leveraging this existing infrastructure would strengthen links between related industries and research and development cooperation. They also expect it to increase the economic benefits from attracting businesses and creating high-quality jobs.

However, the final locations and institutions selected for the second relocation will be determined according to the government's relocation plan and selection criteria. The key to the effort will therefore be how convincingly Bitgaram Innovation City can demonstrate its competitiveness by highlighting its existing industrial base and living conditions.

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