Future vision ceremony hosted by Namdoilbo and Gwangju MBC
Over 600 attend, including special city mayor and assembly speaker
"We will build an overwhelmingly prosperous Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City — together with all of you, our special citizens."
Inaugural Mayor Min Hyeong-bae and regional opinion leaders rallied Wednesday behind plans to foster AI, semiconductor, mobility and energy industries as the engine of a great leap forward for Jeonnam-Gwangju.
Namdoilbo and Gwangju MBC hosted the "Era of Great Leap Forward — Future Vision Proclamation Ceremony" to mark the launch of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City at the Korea Institute of Energy Technology on Wednesday. Mayor Min was joined by Kim Dae-jung, superintendent of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Office of Education; Song Hyeong-gon, inaugural speaker of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Council; Jeong Won-ju, chairman of Namdoilbo; Kim Nak-gon, president of Gwangju MBC; Han Sang-won, chairman of the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry; heads of basic local governments; integrated special city council members; regional National Assembly members; representatives of the Korea Specialty Construction Association; and other figures from across society — more than 600 in all.
Attendees celebrated the launch of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City as the first successful integration of its kind in the country, pledging to work together to make it a model for balanced regional development.
Herald-Namdoilbo Chairman Jeong Won-ju said in his welcoming remarks that Namdoilbo had "quietly upheld trust and principle while breathing together with the local community," adding that the paper would serve as "a steadfast partner — one that responsibly identifies shortcomings to help the special city take root and grow, and that opens the door to dialogue and compromise in the face of conflict."
Mayor Min, in his keynote address, said Jeonnam-Gwangju had "put its painful history behind it and come together again with burning passion," declaring that "a golden opportunity has arrived to leap forward as a massive growth axis that will shake the Republic of Korea." He added that the 800 trillion won Honam semiconductor investment "will redraw the industrial map of the Republic of Korea," vowing to "make Jeonnam-Gwangju the center of the great industrial transformation of the Republic of Korea."
Mayor Min said "the Republic of Korea can no longer move forward if population, capital and opportunity continue to concentrate only in the greater Seoul area," adding that "the Lee Jae Myung administration is pursuing a new strategy for region-led growth." He said the "Three Mega-Projects for the Great Leap Forward of the Republic of Korea," announced by the president two days earlier, along with a plan to transform the national land and spatial framework, constituted "a national transformation strategy that will redraw the industrial map of the Republic of Korea."
Kim Dae-jung, superintendent of the integrated office of education, said "the goal of the Jeonnam-Gwangju integration is clear — overcoming the single-pole dominance of the greater Seoul area and achieving balanced regional development," pledging to "shift the education paradigm from grades to growth and nurture 100,000 talented people for regional development."
Democratic Party of Korea National Assembly member Im Mun-yeong, who represents Gwangsan-eul in Gwangju, said "the creation of an AI innovation ecosystem and the national AI-driven transformation can begin right here in the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City," adding that "spreading the successful model from here across the country is the core of region-led growth."
OhmyNews citizen reporter Lee Bong-ryeol said "the semiconductor cluster is a matter of resolve, not time," urging the government, businesses and local authorities to move simultaneously and break ground on the industrial complex before the end of the year.
sij@heraldcorp.com
