Chulsoo Lee, Chungnam Provincial Council Member, "Shifting Responsibility for Delays in Construction of Dangjin Staff Recreation Facility"

Kim Ji-cheol, Superintendent of Education, "Construction will start next year and can be completed by 2026"

Concerns have been raised about the need for countermeasures as the groundbreaking for the Chungnam Office of Education staff recreation facility, which was to be established in Dangjin, Chungnam, has been delayed.

According to the Chungnam Provincial Council on the 20th, the Chungnam Office of Education established a plan to build a staff recreation facility in June 2019 and confirmed Dangjin as the location in April 2020.

Superintendent Kim Ji-cheol signed a business agreement with then Mayor of Dangjin, Kim Hong-jang, in 2021 to establish the educational recreation facility with the goal of opening in 2024, but the groundbreaking has yet to begin.

Regarding the cause of the delay, the Chungnam Office of Education points to Dangjin City's failure to resolve the expansion and paving of the access road to the training center, while Dangjin City criticizes the Office of Education for adjusting the plan to reduce the project cost below 20 billion KRW to avoid the Ministry of Education's central investment review, each shifting responsibility to the other.

On this day, at the 3rd plenary session of the 352nd regular meeting, Assemblyman Lee Cheol-soo (People Power Party, Dangjin 1) questioned the education administration, stating, "The staff recreation facility was originally scheduled to open this year, but the Office of Education and Dangjin City are blaming each other and shifting the cause of the groundbreaking delay," adding, "Whether it was due to the Office of Education's intervention and changes or Dangjin City's administrative delays, the delay in groundbreaking must have caused great disappointment to the citizens."

He further criticized, "According to the Office of Education, the Ministry of Education's central investment review takes at least four years, so this might be a kind of strategy to advance the completion date, but the plan being reduced to half scale is a failure to fulfill the promises and agreements made with Dangjin City," and added, "There remains a question as to why the Office of Education did not consider the central investment review at the planning stage."

In response, Superintendent Kim promised completion in the first half of 2026.

Superintendent Kim said, "The Office of Education has made various efforts to ensure smooth groundbreaking," and added, "Rather than changing the establishment plan, we are proceeding step-by-step to expedite the start of construction."

He also stated, "We considered the realistic possibility of passing the central investment review," and explained, "Dangjin City plans to complete the road expansion and paving by this year, and the detailed design is currently underway, so construction will begin next year, and barring any special variables, completion is expected in 2026."