Attendees sign a joint declaration at the first meeting of the six-party consultative body on the relocation of Gwangju's military airport, held at Gwangju Urban Corporation in Seo-gu, Gwangju, on Dec. 17, 2025. The meeting produced an agreement to consolidate and relocate Gwangju's military and civilian airports to Muan. From left: Kim Yong-beom, presidential office policy chief; Kim Yeong-rok, South Jeolla Province governor; Kang Gi-jeong, Gwangju mayor; Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back; Kim San, Muan-gun chief; Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol, who also serves as minister of economy and finance; and Kang Hui-eop, second vice minister of land, infrastructure and transport. [Gwangju-Jeonnam Press Photographers Association/Yonhap]
Attendees sign a joint declaration at the first meeting of the six-party consultative body on the relocation of Gwangju's military airport, held at Gwangju Urban Corporation in Seo-gu, Gwangju, on Dec. 17, 2025. The meeting produced an agreement to consolidate and relocate Gwangju's military and civilian airports to Muan. From left: Kim Yong-beom, presidential office policy chief; Kim Yeong-rok, South Jeolla Province governor; Kang Gi-jeong, Gwangju mayor; Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back; Kim San, Muan-gun chief; Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol, who also serves as minister of economy and finance; and Kang Hui-eop, second vice minister of land, infrastructure and transport. [Gwangju-Jeonnam Press Photographers Association/Yonhap]

Muan-gun said it would actively cooperate with the planned relocation of Gwangju's military airport after President Lee Jae Myung publicly criticized the county for its lack of cooperation. The county indicated it would participate in the military airport relocation site selection committee once three preconditions are confirmed: the relocation of the civilian airport, 1 trillion won ($700 million) in financial support and the development of a 3.3 million-square-meter national industrial complex.

Muan-gun chief Kim San said in a statement Wednesday that if the three preconditions are fulfilled, "we will work closely with the government and the Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special city in a responsible manner to produce tangible results for the Gwangju military airport relocation project."

The statement was a formal response to President Lee's call at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday for the swift advancement of the relocation project and for Muan-gun's active cooperation.

Kim thanked the president for his "deep attention and words of encouragement," adding that the county's demands "are not meant to oppose the airport relocation outright, but to uphold the minimum principle that the project must proceed under conditions that the people of Muan-gun can accept as reasonable."

The three preconditions Muan-gun has demanded — agreed upon by the six-party consultative body — are the priority relocation of Gwangju's civilian airport to Muan International Airport, 1 trillion won in financial support, and the provision of sweeping incentives including the development of a national industrial complex, along with a concrete roadmap.

Kim also welcomed the government's decision to develop the former site of the Gwangju military airport into a semiconductor cluster for the Honam region.

"Sufficient consultation and preparation are absolutely necessary to keep pace with the changed circumstances brought about by the semiconductor cluster plan," Kim said, adding that he viewed it "very positively" that the Jeonnam-Gwangju special city had recently proposed concrete support measures — including the development of a national industrial complex — advancing discussions on fulfilling the preconditions by a step.

"As this is a critical matter the president is personally overseeing, Muan-gun will also approach it with an even greater sense of responsibility," Kim said. He pledged to accurately convey the wishes of county residents while working closely with relevant ministries — including the Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport — and the Jeonnam-Gwangju special city to ensure the three preconditions are fulfilled swiftly and substantively.

With Muan-gun formally signaling its willingness to engage following the president's public directive, attention is now turning to whether stalled discussions of the Gwangju military airport relocation site selection committee will resume.

Should the relocation process regain momentum, development of the Honam region semiconductor cluster is also expected to accelerate.

Earlier, the government and the Jeonnam-Gwangju special city held a working-level meeting convened by the presidential office to discuss how to share the funding shortfall for the Gwangju military airport relocation project and what support to offer Muan-gun.

Regarding the 3.3 million-square-meter national industrial complex Muan-gun has demanded, the special city proposed guaranteeing pre-sales for half the site — 1.65 million square meters — in the event of unsold units.

The special city plans to submit to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Thursday an application from Muan-gun to host the 3.3 million-square-meter national industrial complex.

The ministry is reportedly considering holding a meeting of its industrial location policy deliberation council this month to designate the site as a candidate for a "region-specific distributed energy national industrial complex."


sij@heraldcorp.com