Joo Kyu-il, Mayor of Jinju, Strongly Urges "LH New Recruitment and Second Relocation of Public Institutions"

Jo Gyu-il, Mayor of Jinju, meeting with Ando-geol, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] On the 22nd, Joo Kyu-il, mayor of Jinju City, visited the Seoul Government Complex and held consecutive meetings with Ahn Do-gul, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and Lee Yong-jae, Planning Director of the National Balanced Development Committee, actively urging for new LH recruitment and the second relocation of public institutions in the Seoul metropolitan area.

On that day, Mayor Joo conveyed the local public opinion opposing the organizational restructuring and workforce reduction in the government’s LH innovation plan to Vice Minister Ahn Do-gul and requested the promotion of this year’s suspended new LH recruitment.

Although the organizational restructuring plan centered on the dismantling of LH was not mentioned at the National Assembly audit on the 7th, a plan to reduce 1,064 personnel at the LH headquarters was decided.

Regarding this, Mayor Joo emphasized, "Please do not crush the hopes of thousands of young people preparing to join LH," and urged, "Please proceed with new LH recruitment as soon as possible, even if it requires extraordinary measures such as recognizing separate quotas."

Vice Minister Ahn Do-gul responded, "We are well aware that there is great concern in the region regarding the LH innovation plan," and added, "The government also sympathizes with the issues related to new LH recruitment and will positively consider resolving them smoothly."

Since June, as the LH innovation plan has become a national issue and negative voices from the local community have increased, Mayor Joo staged a solo protest in Seoul to express opposition to the LH organizational restructuring.

He also met with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to convey the local opposition to the dismantling of LH, and along with local lawmakers Park Dae-chul and Kang Min-guk, delivered a statement opposing the dismantling of LH to the standing members of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, actively engaging in efforts to prevent the dismantling of LH.

After meeting Vice Minister Ahn Do-gul on this day, Mayor Joo also met with Lee Yong-jae, Planning Director of the National Balanced Development Committee, to convey Jinju City’s opinion regarding the second relocation of public institutions, which has recently been receiving negative forecasts in the media.

At the meeting, Mayor Joo referred to the remarks made by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on the 15th of last month regarding the relocation of public institutions and requested, "Please strive to enable institutions related to housing construction, industrial support functions that align with the purpose of creating Jinju Innovation City, and aerospace-related institutions to relocate."