About 600 people from South Gyeongsang Province, political circles and business groups gathered Thursday to call for the relocation of public institutions and the retention of the Naval Academy in Jinhae

About 600 people, including South Gyeongsang Province officials, ruling and opposition lawmakers, business representatives and residents, hold a provincial rally outside the National Assembly building on Thursday. [South Gyeongsang Province]
About 600 people, including South Gyeongsang Province officials, ruling and opposition lawmakers, business representatives and residents, hold a provincial rally outside the National Assembly building on Thursday. [South Gyeongsang Province]

About 600 people from South Gyeongsang Province's political and business communities gathered outside the National Assembly building Thursday to urge the government to relocate public institutions from the greater Seoul area to the province and to establish a consolidated headquarters for state-owned power companies there.

South Gyeongsang Province held the "Provincial Rally on Public Institution Integration and Relocation" at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, adopting a resolution reflecting the demands of local residents. Governor Park Wan-su, regional lawmakers, heads of cities and counties, resident representatives, provincial assembly members, the South Gyeongsang Employers' Federation and associations of province-born residents living in Seoul attended the event.

Participants said the allocation of relocating institutions should take into account the province's industrial base in shipbuilding, defense, nuclear power and aerospace manufacturing. The provincial government identified 40 institutions it wants to attract, including the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Korea Environment Corporation, Industrial Bank of Korea and Korea Racing Authority. The province cited the potential synergy between relocating institutions and its local industrial ecosystem, which accounts for roughly 60 percent of national industrial complex sales.

The province also called for the consolidated headquarters of state-owned power companies to be placed in the South Gyeongsang Innovation City, saying the existing Korea South-East Power (KOEN) building and infrastructure would reduce both the time and cost of relocation while offering strong access to the five power generation companies and power plants nationwide. It pushed back against a proposal to move the headquarters to the Chungcheong region, arguing that the area's proximity to greater Seoul would make it difficult to expect employees to actually relocate, undermining the purpose of balanced regional development.

The province urged that the Naval Academy remain in Jinhae, where the navy's history and its education, logistics and operational functions are concentrated, saying the retention is necessary to strengthen maritime security capabilities and preserve the academy's identity. The resolution adopted at the rally encompassed all three demands: the second-phase relocation of public institutions to the province, the establishment of the consolidated power company headquarters there, and the retention of the Naval Academy in Jinhae.

Oh Se-beom, student body president of Gyeongsang National University, and Kim Jun-eon, head of the university's club federation, delivered a youth appeal at the event, calling on the government and the National Assembly to "decide on the relocation of public institutions linked to strategic industries so that young people from the region can settle in their hometowns."

A provincial government official said the province plans to continue its campaign in cooperation with political circles and civil society through its public institution attraction committee, adding that it would sustain a coordinated response based on the consensus built at the rally.


ook967@heraldcorp.com