Kwon Hyang-yeop, Prospective Candidate for General Election, Holds Candidacy Press Conference

Establishing a New Future Growth Engine to Revitalize the Region

Kwon Hyang-yeop, a prospective candidate who served as the Blue House Balance Personnel Secretary, declared his candidacy on the 7th at the open publicity room on the 3rd floor of Gwangyang City Hall for the 22nd National Assembly election in the Jeonnam Suncheon·Gwangyang·Gokseong·Gurye (Eul) constituency.

At the press conference for his candidacy, Kwon Hyang-yeop stated, “I will break down divisive, non-committal politics and opposition for the sake of opposition, and transform it into politics of inclusion and balance.” He opened the door to political innovation.

Additionally, Kwon promised, “We must overcome the difficulties of regions facing crises such as population extinction and economic stagnation and lay the foundation for a new leap forward. I will devote all my efforts to revitalizing our region through active responses to the population extinction crisis, overcoming regional economic stagnation, and establishing new future growth engines.”

To this end, he said, “We will significantly increase the Local Extinction Response Fund (1 trillion won in 2024) that supports depopulated and targeted areas,” and added, “We will expand projects tailored to the characteristics of each city and county, such as establishing settlement bases for returning farmers and migrants, fostering regional specialized industries, supporting smart farm startups for young farmers, and creating regional specialized tourism complexes to enhance regional competitiveness.”

Along with this, he promised to actively support related budgets and policies by identifying the actual conditions through on-site inspections of urgent rural issues such as ▲expanding support for rural labor supply through improvement of the foreign seasonal worker system ▲expanding compensation for agricultural disaster damages ▲expanding energy welfare in rural areas through increased urban gas supply ▲fostering high-income crops and expanding agricultural food processing industries.

He also mentioned numerous regional issues facing our area, including ▲major renovation of Gwangyang National Industrial Complex ▲construction of a smart port and development of a hinterland complex at Gwangyang Port ▲fostering future food industries such as secondary batteries and hydrogen industries ▲development of Gubongsan and Seomjingang tourism complexes ▲attracting a medical school to the Jeonnam region ▲revision of the Yeosun Incident Special Act and creation of an integrated tourism belt in the Seomjingang area ▲installation of a cable car in Jirisan, emphasizing, “To solve these, we need a real worker who will firmly secure and support budgets and policies.”

Furthermore, Kwon proposed that the establishment of the Seomjingang Basin Environmental Office and the upgrade of the Yi Sun-sin Bridge to a national highway be promoted as joint pledges of Jeonnam regional candidates, appealing to change politics, protect the people, and definitely revitalize the region.

Meanwhile, Kwon Hyang-yeop has been recognized for building political capabilities and a solid foundation on the Blue House and central political stage, having served in various key positions such as Blue House Balance Personnel Secretary, Senior Secretary to the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly in charge of the Gender Equality Advisory Committee directly under the Speaker, Vice Chairman of the Policy Committee of the Democratic Party Central Party, and Planning Director of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary office.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr