North Gyeongsang Province signed a joint cooperation MOU Thursday to promote the Daegu-Gyeongbuk horse industry special zone, with Gov. Lee Cheol-woo and the heads of seven cities and counties — Daegu's Gunwi-gun, Gyeongju, Andong, Gumi, Yeongcheon, Sangju and Uiseong-gun — gathering at The Land Tourist Hotel in Yeongcheon for the signing ceremony.
The agreement aims to explore sustainable development strategies for the Daegu and North Gyeongsang horse industry special zone ahead of the opening of Lets Run Park Yeongcheon in September, and to coordinate efforts to attract the Korea Racing Authority headquarters to North Gyeongsang Province as part of the planned relocation of Greater Seoul public institutions.
A horse industry special zone is a region the minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs designates under the Horse Industry Promotion Act to develop areas with horse-related infrastructure and growth potential, with the aim of revitalizing local economies and nurturing the horse industry as a new national growth engine.
Designated zones serve as hubs for the horse industry, backed by administrative and financial support from the central government and local authorities.
Designated in 2015 as South Korea's second horse industry special zone, the North Gyeongsang horse industry cluster — covering Gumi, Yeongcheon, Sangju, Daegu's Gunwi and Uiseong — has steadily built out infrastructure spanning horse breeding, training, equestrian sports and tourism.
Those efforts have made North Gyeongsang Province the largest horse-breeding region outside Jeju and the Greater Seoul area, with 1,337 horses and 217 related businesses, as well as the largest regular equestrian population outside the capital region, at 9,988 riders.
Lets Run Park Yeongcheon, set to open in Yeongcheon's Geumho area in September, is expected to serve as the centerpiece of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region's push to become the country's largest horse industry belt.
Spanning about 1.45 million square meters — the largest of any such facility nationwide — Lets Run Park Yeongcheon is being developed as a mixed leisure complex that includes horse racing. North Gyeongsang Province plans to link the racing park with the horse industry special zone to expand the sector into sports and tourism and complete a horse industry cluster in the region.
Lee Sang-su, director of the province's Regional Era Policy Bureau, presented a plan Thursday for activating the horse industry special zone and relocating the Korea Racing Authority to North Gyeongsang Province. "Under the goal of completing a global innovation hub through the connection of industry, space and people, North Gyeongsang Province will pursue the relocation of the Korea Racing Authority as its top priority in nurturing a global hub for the horse leisure industry," he said.
North Gyeongsang Province and Yeongcheon City have made wide-ranging efforts toward relocating the Korea Racing Authority.
Yeongcheon Mayor Kim Byeong-sam said Thursday's MOU "is not a simple business agreement, but a commitment to coexistence and cooperation for the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region to grow together as a single horse industry community and to build a new future for South Korea's horse industry." He added that it "will serve as a meaningful starting point for putting the government's national balanced development policy into practice at the regional level."
Gov. Lee said Yeongcheon was the ideal relocation site for the Korea Racing Authority, citing its access to three expressways, rail and airport connections, and modern facilities. "We ask the government to decide on relocating to Yeongcheon, which has outstanding industrial concentration and the capacity to absorb relocating workers, in line with the principles governing public institution relocations," he said.
kbj7653@heraldcorp.com
