President Lee Jae-myung directed the establishment of a task force (TF) directly under the presidential office on the 25th to resolve the issue of integrating the Gwangju civilian and military airport. Specifically, it will be a six-member TF team involving stakeholders including the local governments of Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, Muan-gun, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. This indicates that the president intends to take direct charge of the matter due to differing positions among local governments.
During an event titled "Listening to the hearts of Honam, communicating with the people," held at the National Asia Culture Center in Gwangju that afternoon, the president said, "Because there is a 'distrust' between regions, I think it is correct for me to take responsibility at the national level. I will make sure the government oversees this issue," while hinting at the formation of a TF team under the presidential office.
In the meantime, Gwangju and Jeollanam-do have pursued plans to transfer the civilian and military airport in Gwangju to Muan, but Muan-gun has opposed this due to reasons like community acceptance. In this context, the president has decided to engage directly with stakeholders and to create a TF under the presidential office to oversee the airport transfer issue. Attending the event were local government heads including Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung, Jeollanam-do Governor Kim Young-rok, and Muan-gun Chief Kim San.
Listening to the explanations from the local government heads, the president directly asked, "So how much do you estimate the project viability?" "Is the land (where the existing airport is located) owned by Gwangju?" "Is the 1 trillion won promised by Gwangju to Muan feasible, meaning Gwangju won't incur losses while transferring the airport?" "How much is the estimated profit?" He also inquired, confirming the connection with the military airport and munitions depot, "Did anyone from the Ministry of National Defense come here?"
In particular, regarding the anticipated profit from selling the existing Gwangju airport site, when Mayor Kang said, "These days, I can't calculate how much profit it would generate," the president remarked, "So, they can't trust Gwangju in Muan," and further asked, "At least, estimate how much it would be." In response, Governor Kim stated, "In the official estimate from the Ministry of National Defense in 2016, there would be a development profit of 450 billion won. This was announced to be given to Muan," to which the president retorted, "Is that all that would be left?"
As the explanations from the local government heads dragged on, the president intervened, saying, "So just give me the conclusion." When Governor Kim stated, "I am speaking from an objective position," the president replied, "That's not objective. You are also a stakeholder," adding, "Ultimately, the problem is community acceptance, and naturally, people suffering from noise damage would oppose it."
Meanwhile, in his opening remarks, the president noted, "The issue of transferring the Gwangju military airport seems to have been discussed countless times since I came out as party leader, but there doesn't seem to be any progress," and added, "If we listen to the positions of each local government, we could enjoy a better situation through appropriate compromise, but it seems the bad situation continues due to differences in opinions or misunderstandings." He also mentioned, "It is unlikely that a final conclusion will be made today, but the first agenda is to seek leads on solutions."
He also mentioned the overconcentration in the metropolitan area and regional balanced development. The president stated, "All sorts of issues are raised in the metropolitan area, but the majority are caused by excessive concentration of the nation in the metropolitan area, leading to overwhelming problems in the metropolitan area," adding, "If the territory of Korea is used efficiently for regional balanced development, many of these issues can be resolved. I would like to hear from stakeholders about how we can achieve regional balanced development."