Busan City-53rd Division Hold Win-Win Development Working-Level Council Meeting

2 PM on the 10th at City Hall, 'Busan City-53rd Infantry Division Working-Level Council' Held

Discussion on Various Urban Issues Including Military Housing Improvement and 53rd Division Relocation

On the 10th at 2 p.m., Busan City held the ‘Busan City-53rd Infantry Division Win-Win Cooperation Working Council’ in the 20th-floor conference room of City Hall.

Practical Council.

At the working council, representatives from Busan City and the 53rd Infantry Division gathered to discuss various urban issues related to the military and government, including the ‘relocation of the 53rd Infantry Division’ and ‘improvement of military residential environments.’

Since January, Busan City has initiated related services for the relocation of the 53rd Infantry Division in Haeundae, conducting feasibility studies and establishing a master plan, while currently scouting potential relocation sites.

With a total budget of 500 million KRW, a service provider was selected in December last year, and in January, the ‘Feasibility Study and Master Plan Establishment Service for the 53rd Infantry Division Relocation Project’ was officially launched.

Although some progress has been made regarding project promotion, such as revising related guidelines to lift development restrictions, the relocation of the military unit requires not only legal and regulatory resolutions but also essential cooperation from the Ministry of National Defense and the 53rd Infantry Division, the user unit.

Recently, due to serious military manpower shortages, including the under-enrollment crisis in the Army ROTC, government interest in improving the treatment of military officers has increased.

To improve the poor living conditions of soldiers, the 53rd Infantry Division is promoting a military residential environment improvement project; however, construction restrictions in certain areas have halted the project, making urgent countermeasures necessary.

This win-win development working council represents a collaboration between Busan City and the 53rd Infantry Division to resolve these mutual issues and cooperate for mutual benefit.

The city and the 53rd Infantry Division agreed that conflicts caused by unilateral demands for military base relocations occurring in various cities and provinces, as well as inefficient practices that emphasize only the operational importance of military facilities, must be eliminated.

Going forward, they plan to continuously discover and discuss various cooperative matters in urban planning through the win-win development working council based on mutual cooperation.

Once the 53rd Infantry Division is relocated, the current military base site will be used to attract cutting-edge industries, a national priority project, and to establish the Advanced Science Park, a national innovation growth hub, to serve as a future growth engine for Busan.

It is expected that providing high-quality jobs in the advanced industry sector at the relocation site will help address population decline and the outflow of young people from the region.

Im Kyung-mo, Director of the City Planning Bureau, stated, “The newly formed working council is expected to serve as a communication channel between the military and Busan City to resolve urban issues such as the relocation of the 53rd Infantry Division,” adding, “Starting with this meeting, we will regularly hold sessions to discuss win-win cooperation with the 53rd Infantry Division.”