The government said it will build a "southwest semiconductor cluster (industrial complex)" on the Gwangju military airport site. To do so, the existing military airport must be moved to Muan County in Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Unified City. The key to the final transfer application lies with the head of the local government, and some say filing will be difficult if local residents oppose it.
The execution of the 800 trillion won investment plan by Samsung Electronics(005930) and SK hynix(000660) effectively depends on Muan County, which has a population of about 95,000.
According to Muan County on the 13th, the Ministry of National Defense, after holding resident briefings in April, selected Muan County as a "preliminary transfer candidate site" for the military airport of Jeonnam-Gwangju City.
Selecting a preliminary transfer candidate site is the first step in the military airport transfer project. It is the process of confirming whether the area identified by the Ministry of National Defense is suitable as a military airport transfer site. After that, the process moves to selecting a candidate site and drawing up a support plan, followed by a resident vote and an application to host.
The most important factor in this process is the views of local residents. Under the Military Airport Transfer Act, the Ministry of National Defense can request a resident vote from the head of the relevant local government after selecting a transfer site. It is a for-or-against vote asking residents whether a military airport should be located in the area.
However, the outcome of a resident vote does not automatically determine the military airport transfer site. A resident vote is not a legally mandatory procedure, and its result does not directly bind the head of the local government on whether to apply to host. The Ministry of Government Legislation said, "If a resident vote is held, it does not mean the head of the relevant local government must be bound by the result of the resident vote on the military airport transfer and decide whether to apply to host the military airport transfer."
The problem is that it is difficult for the head of a basic local government, an elected official, to make a decision that goes against the will of local residents.
A representative case is the military airport transfer project in Suwon, Gyeonggi. Suwon City formally proposed a military airport transfer to the Ministry of National Defense in 2014, and in 2017 the ministry selected Hwaseong City's Hwaong District as a preliminary transfer candidate site.
But with continued backlash from Hwaseong City and local residents, the transfer project has been stalled for nearly 10 years. A local government official familiar with the matter said, "In Suwon's case, the candidate site was decided unilaterally without sufficiently asking local residents for their views."
Jeong Myeong-geun, the mayor of Hwaseong, has also consistently argued that the military airport should be transferred to another area. The Gyeonggi governor, the Suwon mayor, and the Hwaseong mayor all belong to the Democratic Party of Korea. Even local government heads from the same party find it hard to ignore the views of local residents.
In response, Muan County plans to ask residents for their opinions on the military airport transfer. A Muan County official said, "Because the military airport transfer will have a significant impact on the region's future and residents' lives, we will disclose every process transparently to residents and humbly abide by residents' choices through a resident vote, the most democratic procedure."
Muan County is also setting forth conditions for the military airport transfer. It believes it will be hard to win residents over unless three key demands are met: transferring the Gwangju civilian airport first, 1 trillion won in support from Gwangju City, and incentives at the national level. Before the resident briefing for the preliminary transfer candidate site held in April, some residents staged a silent protest expressing concerns about the military airport transfer.