Jeong Cheol, Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member, Criticizes "Lack of Communication and Consistency in Administration"

Jeonnam-type 300 Project, 4 Projects Selected Without Consultation

There are urgent calls for improvement due to the inconsistent implementation of the Jeonnam-type 300 Project.

Jeong Cheol, a member of the Jeonnam Provincial Assembly (Democratic Party of Korea, Jangseong 1), strongly criticized the inconsistent implementation of the Jeonnam-type 300 Project during a recent administrative audit under the jurisdiction of the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Planning and Coordination.

According to Assemblyman Jeong Cheol on the 8th, the Jeonnam-type Balanced Development 300 Project is a local-led self-reliant development and job creation initiative that links regional specialized resources of cities and counties to respond to the crisis of local extinction and promote balanced development among cities and counties.

Jeong Cheol, Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member

This project selected four locations through a public contest last July: ▲Suncheon City ▲Gangjin County ▲Jindo County ▲Shinan County, and plans to invest a total of approximately 126.5 billion KRW, around 30 billion KRW per project, over the next 3 to 4 years.

Assemblyman Jeong Cheol pointed out, “The original project plan was to select only one project with a budget of 30 billion KRW, but suddenly four projects were selected, changing the plan,” and added, “The executive branch handled the administration arbitrarily without any explanation regarding this.”

He continued, “Currently, 89 regions nationwide have been designated as population decline areas, and in Jeonnam, 16 counties excluding five cities?Mokpo, Yeosu, Suncheon, Naju, Gwangyang?and one county, Muan, have been designated as population decline areas, the highest number,” and added, “The purpose of the Jeonnam-type Balanced Development 300 Project is to promote balanced development among the 22 cities and counties.”

Furthermore, he expressed concern, saying, “The pilot project plans to select a few locations and expand to cities and counties based on performance, but considering that the project budget per location is 30 billion KRW, it is questionable whether there will be a budget for expansion,” and added, “They even pre-selected projects for next year, which was not planned, so it is uncertain whether a public contest will be possible in 2025.”

He then urged, “The selection criteria should reflect balanced development evaluation indicators more, so that projects are selected starting from local governments experiencing severe population decline.”