Gwangju City Citizens' Rights Committee to Hold Public Hearing on Private Airport Relocation on the 29th

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju Metropolitan City Citizens' Rights Committee announced on the 28th that it will hold a public hearing at 2 p.m. on the 29th in the city hall's main conference room to gather diverse opinions from citizens regarding the relocation of Gwangju's civilian and military airports.

This public hearing will not be a debate for or against the relocation of Gwangju's civilian and military airports but will proceed by informing citizens of the advantages and disadvantages of the airport relocation and collecting their opinions through questions and answers.

Choi Young-tae, Chairman of the Citizens' Rights Committee, will deliver the keynote speech, and Professor Kim Jae-hyung of Chosun University will serve as the chair. The hearing will be led together with Seo Jeong-hoon, Special Committee Chair on Airport Relocation Discussions; Jeong Mu-chang, Chair of the City Council Operations Committee; Guk Kang-hyun, Chair of the Airport Noise Damage Countermeasures Committee; Professor Choi Wan-seok of Gwangju University; and Son Yong-man, Secretary General of the Gwangju Tourism Association.

Earlier, on Gwangju Metropolitan City's online democracy platform ‘Baro Communication Gwangju!’, a citizen opinion was proposed stating that ‘the relocation of Gwangju's civilian airport should be done together with the military airport,’ which quickly gained sympathy and discussion through the interest and participation of many citizens.

Accordingly, the Citizens' Rights Committee formed a special committee on airport relocation discussions composed of rights committee members and external experts to deliberate, and through a plenary committee review, decided to conduct a public opinion survey to gather citizens' views for preparing policy implementation plans.

The public opinion survey on airport relocation is being promoted through TV discussions, press briefings, public hearings, and banners. The survey will be conducted via telephone interviews with 2,500 Gwangju citizens from the 30th of this month to the 10th of next month.

The survey will ask about the timing of the relocation of Gwangju's civilian and military airports, the name of the integrated airport if the civilian airport is consolidated with Muan Airport, and other related matters. Subsequently, the Citizens' Rights Committee will reflect the survey results and make policy recommendations to Gwangju City regarding the relocation of Gwangju's civilian and military airports.

Chairman Choi Young-tae of the Citizens' Rights Committee stated, “The results of the public opinion survey and the policy recommendations of the Citizens' Rights Committee do not have legal binding force, but if the policy recommendations reflecting citizens' opinions are submitted to Mayor Lee Yong-seop, he will comprehensively consider the survey results, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Jeollanam-do's opinions to reach a conclusion on the airport relocation.”

He added, “The public opinion survey on airport relocation is not intended to pour cold water on the coexistence of Gwangju and Jeonnam but to find a fundamental solution based on the opinions of residents regarding the urgent issues of military airport relocation and the revitalization of Muan Airport, which are pressing matters for both cities and provinces. True coexistence between the city and province is possible only when supported by residents' opinions.”