Decentralization civic group releases polling on key Busan policy agenda for the 9th elected administration; 86.2% say Pompidou branch, La Scala performances should be reconsidered

Poll results on the feasibility of building a ballpark at North Port (left) and public preferences on the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang regional cooperation framework. [Provided by Jibang Bunggwon Busan Citizens' Alliance]
Poll results on the feasibility of building a ballpark at North Port (left) and public preferences on the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang regional cooperation framework. [Provided by Jibang Bunggwon Busan Citizens' Alliance]

Six in 10 Busan residents support building a domed baseball stadium at the North Port redevelopment site — a key campaign pledge of Mayor-elect Jeon Jae-soo — according to a new poll. The survey also found that the largest share of respondents favor advancing regional cooperation among Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province through a metropolitan union before moving toward full administrative integration.

The Jibang Bunggwon Busan Citizens' Alliance released the findings Sunday under the title "Analysis of Busan Citizens' Polling on the Key Directions and Priorities of the 9th Elected Busan City Administration." The survey covered eight core policy issues, including the vision of Busan as a maritime capital, the relocation of maritime and fisheries public institutions, the North Port ballpark proposal and the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang regional cooperation framework.

Some 59.6 percent of respondents said building a baseball stadium on the North Port redevelopment site would be desirable. Opposition stood at 37.2 percent, with a further 3.2 percent undecided — meaning 40.4 percent were not in favor, making this the most closely contested issue among all city policy questions surveyed.

Jeon has pledged to build a retractable-roof domed stadium on the landmark site of the first phase of the North Port redevelopment project, while repurposing the existing Sajik Baseball Stadium as a community sports facility. Supporters argue the North Port location would boost the city's brand and revitalize surrounding commerce. Critics, however, point to the cost: while reconstructing Sajik Stadium would run about 340 billion won ($221 million), building a retractable-dome facility at North Port would require more than 1 trillion won in site acquisition and construction alone. The Sajik reconstruction project had already secured 29.9 billion won and cleared a central investment review by the Ministry of Interior and Safety, but has since been placed on hold.

Although supporters outnumbered opponents in the poll, the nearly 40 percent opposition has prompted calls for a thorough public deliberation process. The alliance said that "compared with other policy issues, the proportion of negative views is high, and the approach to implementation should be determined through a deliberative process to prevent conflict and reach civic consensus."

On the question of how to advance regional cooperation among Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang, 39.0 percent of respondents said the three regions should first form a metropolitan union and then move toward administrative integration, while 35.6 percent preferred the metropolitan union model alone. Support for direct administrative integration — either between Busan and South Gyeongsang (18.6 percent) or among all three regions (6.8 percent) — totaled 25.4 percent. The results suggest residents broadly support closer regional cooperation but prefer a gradual path through a metropolitan union over an immediate merger of administrative boundaries. The alliance called on Mayor-elect Jeon, Ulsan Mayor-elect Kim Sang-uk and South Gyeongsang Governor Park Wan-su to "demonstrate leadership in advancing mutually beneficial development and supra-regional cooperation linking the metropolitan union and administrative integration, through dialogue with civil society."

On other issues, 88.2 percent of respondents said the vision of Busan as a maritime capital was desirable, and 90.6 percent said the swift relocation of maritime and fisheries public institutions to Busan was important. Some 92.8 percent said tax, residential and welfare support was needed to attract shipping companies — including HMM, whose headquarters relocation has already been confirmed — to the city. Support for building a second runway at Gadeok New Airport stood at 76.0 percent, and 87.8 percent backed converting Busan Baptist Hospital into a public hospital and developing Pusan National University Hospital into a regionally self-sufficient medical hub.

Some 86.2 percent of respondents said projects pursued by outgoing Mayor Park Heong-joon — including a Busan branch of the Centre Pompidou and La Scala performances — should be suspended and reconsidered. The result indicates that a majority of residents agree with Mayor-elect Jeon's policy direction of prioritizing investment in people's livelihoods over large-scale cultural projects.

The survey was conducted online by the incorporated association Bunggwon Gyunghyeong from June 12 to June 15, polling 500 Busan residents using quota sampling based on demographic factors. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.


kaf2002@heraldcorp.com