The ruling party has begun to actively push for the incorporation of Gimpo City into Seoul and the 'Mega City Seoul' strategy, causing Gyeonggi Province to openly express its discomfort. Governor Kim Dong-yeon of Gyeonggi Province reacted sharply, calling it a "division of the territory," and the Gyeonggi Provincial Council also responded with disbelief.
Nam Jong-seop, the floor leader of the Democratic Party in the Gyeonggi Provincial Council, said on June 2nd on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus', "(In the Gyeonggi Provincial Council) there are many expressions of disbelief. Chairman Yeom Jong-hyun of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council also expressed regret yesterday," adding, "Our negotiation group also issued a statement saying, 'We hope the Democratic Party immediately stops pushing the ruling party's party line.'
Floor leader Nam analyzed that the ruling party's push to incorporate Gimpo City into Seoul is aimed at shaking up the landscape for next year's general election. He said, "They seem to think that the People Power Party suffered a serious blow from losing the by-election for the mayor of Gangseo-gu, and they want to shake up the entire game," "It only looks like they want to disrupt the overall situation for next year's general election through an issue shift."
The ruling party cites 'solving traffic problems' as the reason for incorporation, but Nam also said that even if Gimpo is incorporated into Seoul, traffic congestion will not be resolved. Floor leader Nam said, "What the citizens of Gimpo really want is the extension of subway lines 5 and 9," adding, "So far, when constructing as a metropolitan railway rather than an urban railway, national funding covers up to 70% due to financial reasons, but if it becomes an urban railway, national funding only supports up to 40%."
The day before, Governor Kim also expressed displeasure at the ruling party's push for 'Gimpo Seoul incorporation.' While visiting China, Governor Kim met with accompanying reporters and criticized, "They are putting the economy and people's livelihoods aside and dividing the people, and now they are even dividing the territory," calling it "utterly absurd."
Governor Kim also viewed this 'Gimpo Seoul incorporation' as a general election strategy, like floor leader Nam. He said, "(The establishment of) the Special Self-Governing Province of Northern Gyeonggi, which Gyeonggi Province is promoting, is an economic policy to develop the entire Republic of Korea, whereas what the ruling party leader is talking about is purely political calculation," adding, "If this is put forward as an election strategy, it will be a self-defeating move."
The People Power Party plans to launch a special committee related to 'Gimpo Seoul incorporation' and proceed with the project in earnest. The committee chair will be Cho Kyung-tae, a five-term senior lawmaker from Busan. However, not all voices within the party fully support this direction. Concerns have been raised that Seoul citizens may perceive this as 'reverse discrimination.'
Kim Jae-seop, the People Power Party's Dobong-gap district committee chairman, said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "To extend subway line 5, the preliminary feasibility study exemption must be granted. But even in our Dobong-gu, projects like the Dongbuk Line and the newly established Ui branch line are not progressing properly due to the preliminary feasibility study," adding, "If the preliminary feasibility study exemption is not granted for Seoul but only for Gimpo, there will naturally be issues of fairness."
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