Acts Threatening the Right to Livelihood, Military and Civilians Unite to Oppose and Fight Back
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Representatives of 39 social organizations, including the Clean Goheung Alliance in Goheung County, gathered in the county office’s Uju Hall and unanimously resolved to strongly oppose the recent issue of relocating the Gwangju military airport to Goheung.
At the meeting, representatives of each social organization freely presented their opinions on the background and problems of the Gwangju military airport relocation project and possible countermeasures.
The representatives of social organizations unanimously stated, “If the military airport is established, the damage to the residents is obvious, so the residents must unite to prevent the military airport from coming.” They all agreed with the statement released by Goheung County on the 16th and said they would actively block the relocation of the military airport together with administrative agencies.
They also said in unison, “If the military airport is established, the agricultural, fishery, livestock industries, and environmental damage of the Jiseon residents will be severe, and residents will not be able to live due to fighter jet noise.” They added, “There is no value in discussing incentives related to the military airport relocation, and since it threatens the residents’ right to survival, it must be strongly opposed.”
Lee Jeongsik, representative of the Clean Goheung Alliance, said, “If we fail to block the military airport relocation at the review stage, the government’s unilateral promotion may gain momentum, so the initial statement by the county governor and the council chairman was very timely. We must respond in solidarity with our county’s members of the National Assembly and expatriate hometown friends.”
Choi Junho, chairman of the Return-to-Hometown and Migration Council, said, “The reason I moved to Goheung, where I had no ties, was because of Goheung’s clean environment. If the military airport is established, no one will move to Goheung for farming or settlement.”
Kang Cheolhwan, head of the Goheung branch of the Korea Food Service Industry Association, said, “Recently, many tourists have come to Goheung, which has helped dining and lodging businesses. If the military airport is established, the number of tourists will decrease, and income from dining and lodging will sharply decline.” He emphasized, “The residents must unite more strongly to oppose this.”
Jang Gicheol, chairman of Pureun Goheung 21, stressed, “Regarding the military airport relocation review, we must expand opposition from social organizations to all residents and strongly oppose the relocation.”
Park Sanggyu, chairman of the County Farmers’ Association, urged, “The county should continue to actively oppose the relocation of the Gwangju military airport.”
Choi Kyungtae, chairman of the Jamang Association, said, “Goheung is surrounded by the sea on three sides, so noise will cause serious damage to fisheries.” Jeong Sangsoo, chairman of the County Korean Beef Association, also raised his voice, saying, “We strongly oppose the military airport relocation due to damage to livestock farming caused by noise.”
On the 17th, the Goheung County Institutions and Organizations Council also strongly opposed the review of relocating the military airport to Goheung County and resolved to withdraw the review.
About 20 heads of institutions and organizations attending the meeting expressed their absolute opposition to the military airport coming to Goheung County and stated their intention to actively cooperate with Goheung County’s response to withdraw the military airport.
Song Younghyun, chairman of the Goheung County Council, who attended the meeting of the County Institutions and Organizations Council, said, “We confirmed that the local district member of the National Assembly also opposes it, and we will form a special committee in the county council to visit Gwangju Metropolitan City and the Ministry of National Defense to protest. The county council will cooperate as much as possible.”
The Gwangju military airport relocation project was researched by the Ministry of National Defense in 2018 targeting 12 regions in Jeonnam, and in 2019, Muan, Haenam, and Sinan were selected as the final candidates.
However, as the relocation stalled due to opposition from local residents, it was reported in the media that Goheung County was added as an additional candidate site besides the three counties.
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