Nam Jongseop, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party in Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly
"National funding support reduced from 70% to 40%"
The People Power Party is pushing for the incorporation of Gimpo into Seoul and promoting the 'Mega City Seoul,' while Nam Jong-seop, the floor leader of the Democratic Party in the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly, criticized it as "an attempt to shake up the general election landscape."
On the 2nd, Nam said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that "I think the People Power Party suffered a very serious blow from losing the by-election for the mayor of Gangseo-gu, and they are trying to shake up the entire landscape."
He added, "There are no favorable factors right now, such as economic failure, the Seoul-Yangpyeong highway issue, the external pressure allegations involving former investigation chief Park Jeong-hoon, or General Hong Beom-do. It only seems like they are trying to shake up the overall landscape for next year's general election through issue diversion."
He also said that even if Gimpo is incorporated into Seoul, traffic congestion will not be resolved. Nam said, "What the citizens of Gimpo really want is the extension of Line 5 and Line 9," adding, "So far, when it was constructed as a metropolitan railway rather than an urban railway, national funding covered up to 70% due to financial reasons, but if it becomes an urban railway, national funding will only cover up to 40%."
He continued, "Seoul City would have to invest a lot of resources, which could lead to backlash from other areas with poor transportation."
If the plan to incorporate Gimpo into Seoul is put into full effect, a chain reaction of movements from other cities adjacent to Seoul is also expected. Regarding this, Nam said, "It would mean including the entire Gyeonggi Province and its surroundings, and I have doubts about whether this is really possible," adding, "Even if the people want it, would integrating Gyeonggi Province and Seoul together to create a metro city and a metropolitan city really be welcomed positively by the people?"
The People Power Party intends to promote the incorporation of Gimpo through a special law. In response, Nam criticized it as a "trick," saying, "If the government proposes the legislation, it must go through consent procedures with Gimpo City, Gyeonggi Province, or the Seoul Metropolitan Council, but to move quickly, they plan to push it through as a member-initiated bill."
He added, "But since our party is the majority, the member probably knows there is no chance of it being realized, so isn't this just being thrown out now?"
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