A view of the Yeongdeok-gun office. [Yeongdeok-gun]
A view of the Yeongdeok-gun office. [Yeongdeok-gun]

Yeongdeok-gun in North Gyeongsang Province announced Tuesday that it has selected three candidate sites — Namsan 2-ri, Seongnae 4-ri and Beolyeong 1-ri — and submitted them to the Ministry of Justice as part of the ministry's public competition to identify a site for a new correctional facility.

The county had accepted applications from nine towns and townships through Oct. 1, receiving a total of four village submissions from Yeongdeok-eup and Yeonghae-myeon.

County officials then conducted a comprehensive review of each applicant site, assessing land suitability, accessibility and infrastructure conditions, before narrowing the list to three candidates through consultations with the county planning committee and the county administration coordination committee.

A public opinion process will follow the candidate selection. The county plans to hold public hearings in Yeonghae and Yeongdeok on Monday to explain the project details and progress and gather residents' input.

A countywide poll will then be conducted from Wednesday through Friday, and the county intends to submit a related consent motion to an extraordinary session of the county council on Oct. 29 based on the results.

The final site is expected to be determined in December through the Ministry of Justice's own evaluation and selection process.

"The selection of these candidate sites is a preliminary step for applying to the ministry's competition," a Yeongdeok-gun official said. "We will continue to carry out all related procedures, including public hearings and polling, in a transparent manner."


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