Gyeongju Mayor Ju Nak-young and city officials visit the National Assembly on Wednesday to ask lawmakers to include key local projects in next year's national budget. [Gyeongju City]
Gyeongju Mayor Ju Nak-young and city officials visit the National Assembly on Wednesday to ask lawmakers to include key local projects in next year's national budget. [Gyeongju City]

Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, sent a delegation to the National Assembly this week to lobby for national budget allocations and increases for key local projects in the 2027 fiscal year.

Mayor Ju Nak-young and directors from major city departments visited the Assembly on Wednesday, meeting with lawmakers including Kim Seok-ki, Park Soo-young, Kim Tae-gyu, Song Eon-seog, Lee Jun-seok and Na Kyung-won to explain the necessity and urgency of priority projects.

Among the projects the city put forward were the APEC Gyeongju Cultural Forum, the restoration and preservation of core Silla royal capital heritage sites, the construction of a Korean unification future center for the southern region, the establishment of an APEC Diplomacy and Culture Center in Gyeongju, and the building of an access road to the Munmu the Great Science Research Institute.

The city also sought support for infrastructure and advanced science projects, including a four-lane national highway between Nongso and Oedong, an expansion of the national road between Oedong Nokdong and Munsan, a new road between Gangdong and Angang, and a proton accelerator performance upgrade.

The delegation focused particularly on securing national funding for follow-up projects aimed at channeling the success of the APEC summit into regional development, along with the Silla royal capital restoration and future-growth infrastructure initiatives.

Gyeongju has been pursuing national budget funding since March, when it held an initial briefing on its investment priorities, and has since continued its efforts through visits to central government ministries and policy consultations.

"We will build on the success of the APEC summit to drive regional development and push forward key projects without delay," Mayor Ju said. "We will work closely with the National Assembly and central government ministries to do everything we can to secure national budget funding for 2027."


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