People Power Party North Gyeongsang governor candidate Lee Cheol-woo said this about the plan to build the integrated new Daegu-North Gyeongsang airport in an interview with ChosunBiz on the 29th. The integrated new airport is one of the biggest pending issues for Daegu and North Gyeongsang. Daegu City proposed the transfer of the military airport to the Ministry of National Defense in 2016, and the relocation site was finalized in 2020, but construction has not begun yet because the financing method has not been finalized.
Running for a third term, the candidate put forward "completion" as the core justification of this election. The candidate said, "I have opened the way in the field over the past eight years," and added, "Over the next four years, I will see through to the end the integrated new airport, administrative integration, a great shift in agriculture, a response to low births, and an industrial structure transition."
The candidate also underwent cancer treatment last year. The candidate said, "I do not think this life regained was given as time to rest," and added, "I will devote the remaining strength and time to North Gyeongsang." The following is a Q&A with the candidate.
― This is a bid for a third term. Why are you running again?
"Over the past eight years, I have opened the way in the field. We finalized the transfer site for the integrated new airport, and expanded the map of national industrial complexes, once centered on Pohang and Gumi, to include the Yeongju Advanced Bearing National Industrial Complex, Gyeongju SMR (small modular reactor), Uljin nuclear hydrogen, and Andong bio national industrial complex candidate site. We also developed policies for a great shift in agriculture and responses to low births as a national model. We were the first in the country to raise the flag and push for Daegu-North Gyeongsang administrative integration.
What matters now is completion. Administrative integration, the integrated new airport, low birthrates and an aging population, regional extinction, and an industrial structure transition are survival tasks that cannot be delayed. If we start and then stop, North Gyeongsang will fall behind again. We will make the integrated new airport an economic airport and, through administrative integration, establish a local government model to counter the capital area's single-pole system. We will surely make North Gyeongsang a place where advanced industry, agriculture, tourism, and welfare thrive together."
― How do you plan to resolve the new airport issue, one of the region's biggest pending matters?
"The new airport can no longer be delayed. This is not the time to redraw the plan but to move up the groundbreaking. Fiscal support from the central government is absolutely necessary. If the Lee Jae-myung administration does not actively support it, we cannot just look to the government and wait.
If necessary, Daegu and North Gyeongsang will join as co-project operators and, even if it means reviewing every financing plan including the issuance of local government bonds, we will move up the groundbreaking. Speed is the lifeblood of an airport. If it is delayed, investment is delayed, and corporations will not wait. We will responsibly devise financing measures and, in cooperation with related agencies, move up administrative procedures and the project schedule as much as possible. We will make the integrated new airport a future growth engine for Daegu and North Gyeongsang."
― You led administrative integration, but it fell through. What are your plans going forward?
"The Democratic Party passed the Gwangju-South Jeolla integration bill while blocking Daegu-North Gyeongsang. Now they are saying, in effect, that if people vote for them, they will allow integration. It is a very arrogant attitude that sees Daegu and North Gyeongsang as a subject of political transaction.
Administrative integration is not a bargaining chip for a particular party. If elected, I will push forward again. I will make another bid for administrative integration in 2028. With meticulous preparation, I will ensure Daegu and North Gyeongsang advance into a global economic zone that competes with the world."
― What are your plans for regional economic development?
"North Gyeongsang is a region equipped with the electricity, water, industrial land, and transportation infrastructure that advanced industries need. We will develop Gumi as a hub for semiconductors, defense, and robots; Pohang for secondary batteries, bio, and hydrogen; Gyeongsan for future vehicles and ICT; and Gyeongju and Uljin for nuclear power, SMRs, and energy industries. On top of this, we will layer AI (artificial intelligence).
Tourism and culture are also one pillar of the economic war. Going forward, industries for eating, playing, and enjoyment will revive the regional economy. We will ride the momentum of the Korean Wave and the hosting of the APEC summit to draw tourists across North Gyeongsang. We will link traditional markets, neighborhood commercial districts, festivals, food, and historical and cultural resources to revive the domestic economy."
― If you had to choose signature policies to carry from a second to a third term?
"The most important are administrative integration and the integrated new airport. The two projects are core tasks that will redraw North Gyeongsang's future map. Administrative integration is a local government innovation model that counters the capital area's single-pole system, and the integrated new airport is key infrastructure that will transform industry and logistics, tourism, and international exchange.
We also must continue responses to the great shift in agriculture and to low birthrates and an aging population. These are tasks that must be carried through to the end, even as administrations change and time passes."
― You proposed forming a joint Daegu–North Gyeongsang election committee within the People Power Party. How is it progressing?
"We must win, starting from Daegu and North Gyeongsang, the heart of conservatives, to set Korea's political balance straight. So we declared we would hold the conservative Nakdong River line and proposed building an election system to fight together.
Daegu mayoral candidate Choo Kyung-ho, the Daegu city party committee, and the North Gyeongsang provincial party committee are continuing a one-team campaign. I have already met candidate Choo nine times. We visited President Park Chung-hee's birthplace together and also visited Park Geun-hye together. On the first day of campaigning, I personally took part in a support rally in Daegu.
Victory in Daegu and North Gyeongsang is the starting point for conservative rebuilding that extends to Busan, Ulsan, South Gyeongsang, Chungcheong, Gangwon, and the capital area. Daegu and North Gyeongsang share the same roots. If we fight together from the campaign stage, after the election we can also push together administrative integration, the integrated new airport, a wide-area transportation network, an industrial belt, and cooperation on tourism and culture."
― You said you would not run a negative campaign. How is the race against your opponent?
"An election is not about tearing down the opponent but a process in which residents judge the future of North Gyeongsang. Residents' lives do not improve through false slander and smear campaigns. What matters is not who attacks louder, but who has more feasible policies and who can lead North Gyeongsang more responsibly.
How the opposing candidate runs the campaign is for residents to judge. I will run a clean and dignified campaign to the end. That is courtesy to the residents."
― What are your strengths compared with your opponent?
"Resolve and grit. To build the integrated new airport, I made the decision—like pulling a healthy tooth—to incorporate Gunwi County into Daegu. Administrative integration also faced opposition and difficulties, but I pushed forward because I judged it was the path that must be taken for the future of Daegu and North Gyeongsang.
A leader must not back down just because the situation is unfavorable. One must look to the future and decide, rather than the immediate pros and cons. I believe that is the spirit President Park Chung-hee showed and the strength with which North Gyeongsang has led Korea."