Park Wansu: "I will ease excessive regulations by Nakdonggang Environment Regional Office"

Dialogue with Residents in Changnyeong
Maximum Cooperation for Nakdonggang Riverside Park Golf Course Development

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporters Kim Wook and Lee Se-ryeong] On the 18th, Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, visited Changnyeong-gun to hold a dialogue session with residents in order to reflect their vivid voices in provincial administration and to lay the foundation for win-win cooperation.

The event was organized to meet residents directly on site, listen to various opinions, reflect those opinions in provincial administration, strengthen cooperation with cities and counties, and promote mutual development.

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, is having a conversation with the residents of Changnyeong County.
[Photo by Kim Uk]

At the ‘Dialogue with Residents’ held in the large conference room of the county office, about 200 people including Governor Park Wan-su, Acting Mayor of Changnyeong-gun Jo Hyun-hong, Chairman of Changnyeong County Council Kim Jae-han, Provincial Assembly members Seong Nak-in and Woo Ki-su, county council members, heads of institutions and social organizations in Changnyeong-gun, and resident representatives attended. The session proceeded in the order of presenting the vision for the 8th elected term of provincial administration, reporting on county issues, and dialogue with residents.

Former Mayor Han Jeong-woo stated, “Due to regulations by the Nakdong River Environmental Office, it is practically impossible to develop sports facilities such as park golf courses along the Nakdong River in the Changnyeong area,” and called for countermeasures at the Gyeongnam provincial level.

Governor Park said, “Human culture is deeply connected to rivers to the extent that it originates from them. If there are no problems such as pollution or flow rate, support should be provided as much as possible,” adding, “I often hear people say that Daegu and Gyeongbuk are doing well with the Waterplex project, but they don’t understand why only the Gyeongnam area faces stricter regulations. We will actively negotiate with the Environmental Office to allow this at the provincial level.”

Regarding the Nakdong River bank filtered water intake project in the Changnyeong area, he expressed the view that “During my time as mayor of Changwon, we spent hundreds of millions of won to first solve agricultural water issues before proceeding with the water intake project. The damage issues of local residents must be resolved first, and especially, countermeasures should be established based on feasibility studies such as agricultural water shortages.”

On this day, the county requested Gyeongnam Province’s support for various local pending projects including ▲ expansion of pumping stations and waterway maintenance in Ibang An-ri and Chogok districts ▲ widening and paving of the entrance road to Namji Sinjeon Village (Nong103) ▲ creation of Upo Natural Ecological Cultural Park ▲ drainage improvement project in Yeo-eo Masuwon district ▲ construction of Yeongsan National Sports and Culture Center.

The approximately 100-minute dialogue session with residents continued with sincere answers between the governor and residents, raising expectations for the mutual development of Gyeongnam Province and the county.

A county official said, “It seems to have been a meaningful occasion to share concerns about our local issues with Gyeongnam Province,” and added, “Please continue to work hard for the development of Changnyeong-gun and Gyeongnam Province.”

Governor Park stated, “Changnyeong-gun has long been a transportation hub with infinite potential. We will strive to promote the construction of Daehap Interchange Industry, Daehap Industrial Complex railway line, and normalization of Yeongnam General Industrial Complex so that Gyeongnam Province and Changnyeong-gun can develop together and the county becomes a logistics hub city.”