"The Agri-Food Climate Change Response Center must serve as a control tower under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and oversee all related policy," the county chief said.
Haenam-gun County Chief Myeong Hyeon-gwan visited central government ministries Thursday to push for national funding for a highway project, a green convergence cluster and a carbon neutrality education center.
Haenam-gun County Chief Myeong Hyeon-gwan and county officials visited central government ministries Thursday to secure national funding for key local projects.
Myeong and county civil servants called on the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy in succession, requesting government attention and support for pending issues including the construction of the National Agri-Food Climate Change Response Center in Haenam.
At the Agriculture Ministry, the county urged active support for the prompt construction and smooth operation of the National Agri-Food Climate Change Response Center, citing this year's prolonged heat wave and the rapidly worsening climate crisis that has unfolded for years.
"Increasingly frequent extreme weather events are dealing the heaviest blows to farming and fishing," Myeong said. "We must bring the National Agri-Food Climate Change Response Center into operation as soon as possible, establish it as the control tower for climate change response, and run it as a national-level response organization."
The center is scheduled to break ground in the second half of this year and be completed in the first half of 2029. Given the urgency of climate change response, the project is advancing faster than comparable competitive grant programs. Once operational, it will serve as the hub overseeing the formulation of national strategies on climate change, forecasting climate impacts and developing response technologies, taking on full responsibility for climate change response in South Korea's agri-food sector.
"Climate change has been progressing at an alarming pace, bringing the gravest crisis the farming and fishing sectors have ever faced in just two to three years," Myeong said. He strongly urged that the center be given the status of the National Agri-Food Climate Response Headquarters — an agency under the Agriculture Ministry — so it can exercise comprehensive policy oversight and function as a genuine control tower.
In this regard, a bill titled the "Act on Response to Agricultural and Rural Climate Crisis and Implementation of Carbon Neutrality" was submitted Tuesday, led by Assembly member Lim Mi-ae and co-sponsored by 13 lawmakers including Park Ji-won, Lee Gae-ho, Jo Gye-won and Moon Geum-ju, who represent constituencies in South Jeolla Province and Gwangju. The bill calls for establishing the National Agri-Food Climate Response Headquarters under the Agriculture Ministry to oversee and coordinate all related policy. The plan envisions eventually housing the headquarters at the center, integrating climate change research and technology development with policy oversight functions under one roof.
Myeong then visited the Land Ministry, where he requested that the Haenam interchange on the planned Wando (via Haenam)–Gangjin expressway be relocated closer to Haenam-gun. He also asked that the widening of National Route 18 — from the Songun intersection in Haenam to the Gyera intersection in Gangjin — to four lanes be pursued in tandem with the expressway construction.
At the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy, the county asked that a planned green convergence cluster and a carbon neutrality education center in Haenam be designated as national projects and funded entirely with central government money. The county envisions the green convergence cluster as a key hub for research and development in the climate and environment sectors, fostering an industrial ecosystem to nurture new carbon-neutral industries in South Korea. The carbon neutrality education center is conceived as the country's flagship education and experience space for building climate crisis response capacity and spreading a culture of carbon-neutral practice. Because both projects require a national-level response within the broader framework of carbon neutrality and climate crisis response, the county is requesting full central government funding.
"Responding to the agricultural crisis caused by climate change, expanding transportation networks and building a carbon-neutral foundation are tasks we must resolve to improve the quality of life for county residents and secure Haenam's future competitiveness," Myeong said. "We will continue to work closely with the central government, Assembly member Park Ji-won, and the Gwangju-South Jeolla Special City to do everything we can to secure national funding and ensure local projects proceed without a hitch."
kkm9971@heraldcorp.com
