Goyang and Bucheon area Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly members held a press conference and issued a statement condemning the opening ceremony of the Daegok-Sosa Line on the 29th at the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly briefing room.
Democratic Party members of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly from Goyang and Bucheon strongly condemned the Yoon Suk-yeol administration on the 30th of this month, regarding the opening ceremony of the 18.3 km double-track railway line connecting Daegok in Goyang and Sosa in Bucheon, urging them not to reduce or distort it as a political event.
These 12 local assembly members issued a statement on the 29th titled "Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which reduced and distorted the Daegok-Sosa Line opening ceremony as a political event, must wake up," saying, "The Daegok-Sosa double-track railway line, a long-cherished wish of the residents in the western Gyeonggi region, will finally open on July 1 after seven years of construction since 2016. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that the opening ceremony will be held on the 30th at Byeolmuri Stadium in Goyang City." They criticized, "However, although President Yoon Suk-yeol, Minister of Land Won Hee-ryong, and Goyang Mayor Lee Dong-hwan will attend the ceremony, Kim Dong-yeon, the Democratic Party governor of Gyeonggi Province who played a major role in the opening of Daegok-Sosa Station, was not invited and thus cannot attend."
The assembly members added, "Not only that, but Cho Yong-ik, the Bucheon mayor from the Democratic Party, also did not receive an invitation," and claimed, "There are criticisms that Democratic Party local leaders were deliberately excluded to highlight President Yoon Suk-yeol and Minister Won Hee-ryong at the opening ceremony."
They continued, "If these criticisms are true, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has disgracefully reduced and distorted the opening ceremony for political reasons," and pointed out, "The ceremony should be an occasion to encourage and celebrate the local governments, institutions, and organizations that worked tirelessly until the Daegok-Sosa Line opened."
In particular, they lamented, "Gyeonggi Province bore 103 billion won of the total project cost of 1.5767 trillion won for the Daegok-Sosa Line, which was a private investment project," adding, "This amount is significantly higher than the 96.7 billion won in national funds. Without Gyeonggi Province’s active cooperation and financial support during the seven years of construction, the opening of the Daegok-Sosa Line would have been practically impossible."
They also evaluated, "The Daegok-Sosa Line was one of the core tasks to accelerate the 'New Economic Map of the Korean Peninsula,' a major national agenda of the Moon Jae-in administration," and criticized, "In fact, the only thing the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has done for the opening of the Daegok-Sosa Line is to prepare the opening ceremony."
Finally, the assembly members said, "There is a saying about taking credit for drinks consumed at a gathering, meaning taking credit for something that belongs to others as if it were one’s own. The behavior of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration surrounding the opening of the Daegok-Sosa Line is no different," and added, "Democratic Party members of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly from Goyang and Bucheon strongly condemn the petty behavior of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and strongly urge them to apologize to the residents for turning the opening ceremony into a political event."
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