Successful Forum on Establishing High-Speed Rail Seoul↔Jeju via Wando Route

Announcement of Necessity and Justification, Exploring Detailed Implementation Plans

A forum was held at Wando Culture and Arts Center to announce the necessity and justification of establishing a high-speed railway between Seoul and Jeju via Wando to internal and external audiences, and to explore detailed implementation plans. (Photo by Wando-gun)

[Wando=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Kyung-pil] On the 18th, Jeollanam-do Wando-gun announced that it held a forum on the 14th at the Culture and Arts Center to publicly declare the necessity and justification of establishing a high-speed railway between Seoul and Jeju via Wando and to explore detailed promotion plans.

The forum was co-hosted by the Wando-gun Prosperity Association (Chairman Jeong Nam-seon) and the Wando-gun Youth Union (Chairman Woo Min-an), organized by Wando-gun and the Public Transportation Forum, supported by Jeollanam-do, and attended by members of the National Assembly, academic experts, officials from Jeollanam-do, Gangjin-gun, Haenam-gun, and residents of Wando-gun.

First, Professor Kang Seung-pil of Seoul National University of Science and Technology gave a keynote presentation on the topic "The Necessity of Establishing a Seoul↔Jeju High-Speed Railway Network via Wando," followed by a discussion involving experts in related fields and a Q&A session with the audience.

Professor Kang Seung-pil stated, "The current national core transportation network plan should be improved to a continental outreach transportation plan covering the entire Korean Peninsula, including Jeju," and added, "For this, the Seoul↔Jeju high-speed railway must be established via Wando, citing reasons such as the construction of a high-speed transportation network along the western axis of the Korean Peninsula, risks of air passenger transport accidents, decreased reliability of air transport due to weather factors, regional balanced development, and improved accessibility to the metropolitan area."

After the keynote presentation, an expert discussion chaired by Kim Si-gon, president of the Korean Society of Transportation, engaged in in-depth discussions on the necessity, expected effects, issues, and promotion directions of establishing the Seoul↔Jeju high-speed railway via Wando.

Wando County Governor Shin Woo-cheol said in his congratulatory remarks, "If the Seoul↔Jeju high-speed railway passing through Wando is constructed, accessibility will improve, enabling local residents to lead better lives. The demand for marine healing, which is emerging as a new tourism trend, will increase, revitalizing the local economy," and added, "We will make every effort to ensure that the Seoul↔Jeju high-speed railway project via Wando is definitely reflected in the national railway network construction plan."

A Wando resident who participated in the forum said, "Through the forum, I empathized with the necessity of establishing the high-speed railway via Wando for economic revitalization and regional balanced development, and I learned about the willingness of the county and Jeollanam-do to promote the project."

An official from Wando-gun stated, "This forum on establishing the Seoul↔Jeju high-speed railway via Wando is the second since the one held at the National Assembly last November. We will do our best to ensure that the necessity and promotion strategies derived from the forum are reflected in the national railway network plan and the 20th presidential election pledges in cooperation with Jeollanam-do."