Yun Byeong-tae, Mayor of Naju, "Will Lead for a 'Brighter Shining Naju'"

Reviewing the Past Two Years and Looking Ahead to the Next Two Years of Naju City under the 8th Elected Government ③

Expectations to Rise as the '5 Million Naju Tourism Era' and '200,000 Global Strong Small City'

Leap to a High-Tech Science City Mecca, Premium Education City, and a City of Happiness for All Generations

Editor's NoteIt has been two years since Yoon Byung-tae, Mayor of Naju City, Jeollanam-do, took office as the 8th elected mayor. Under the belief of "communication and empathetic administration finding answers on the ground," he has carried out administration by visiting the field without a separate inauguration ceremony, listening to the voices of citizens from all walks of life. Naju City, which has been running tirelessly with the administrative goal of "A Happy Naju Good to Live In, A Leading Top Naju" for the era of 5 million Naju tourism and a global small but strong city of 200,000 people. We will cover the past two years and the next two years in three parts: ① Ten innovative achievements ② Major achievements by sector ③ Future vision and promotion strategies.

③ Future Vision and Promotion Strategies

Since taking office as the 8th elected mayor, Yoon Byung-tae, Mayor of Naju City, Jeollanam-do, has been solidifying the foundation for the "Era of 5 Million Naju Tourism" and the completion of the "200,000 Global Small but Strong City" over the past two years. According to Mayor Yoon, the remaining two years ahead are the time to firmly establish the goals of the 8th elected term and to make Naju a city where residents take pride in living and all generations can enjoy the highest quality of life and happiness in their daily lives. Let us look at the detailed projects by promotion strategy to achieve this.

Yoon Byung-tae, Mayor of Naju.

▲ Hub of Advanced Science City Based on Energy Industry

Naju City is proactively responding to the establishment of the national large-scale research facility, the artificial sun research facility. The artificial sun is a dream energy source that generates infinite clean energy without greenhouse gas emissions using seawater as raw material. It is a research facility for studying the artificial sun necessary for full-scale technology commercialization in the future, accumulating data and conducting demonstrations rather than a power plant. Since 2022, the city has been taking the lead in the construction project of the superconducting conductor test facility, one of the eight core technologies of the artificial sun, the first among local governments.

Also, the country's first "Extreme Energy Semiconductor Research and Development (R&D) Cluster" is being promoted. The cluster will include a center equipped with extreme energy semiconductor process rooms and laboratories, as well as infrastructure necessary for device and material development.

Centered on the Korea Energy Engineering University, the city is promoting the creation of an industry-academia-research energy cluster to lead Korea's future new energy industry and has initiated the early start of the energy national industrial complex construction project, aiming for completion by 2030. The city is also solidifying preparations for the world's top-level "Energy International Forum," comparable to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The forum is scheduled to be held at Kentec on September 26-27.

▲ Era of 5 Million Naju Tourism, Pioneering the Yeongsan River Renaissance

Naju City is making every effort to designate the "Yeongsan River Garden" as the largest national garden in Korea by 2033. The garden will be developed into a waterfront space covering approximately 570,000 pyeong of the Yeongsan River reservoir, viewed from the summit of Nobongsan in Yeongsanpo, which is larger than Suncheon Bay.

At the site of Naju Film Theme Park in Gongsan-myeon, with a total project cost of 42.2 billion KRW, the city is focusing on creating the "Namdo Uprising History Park," a key pledge project of Jeollanam-do, including the Namdo Uprising History Museum and historical forest. The city is also accelerating the establishment of a companion animal industry cluster to lead the era of 15 million companion animals. After the construction of the Yeongsan River Companion Animal Theme Park, scheduled to begin in 2025, a total of three phases will be promoted, including activation of the companion animal industry and creation of a companion animal-friendly tourism city linked with tourism resources.

A 63-hole park golf course will be constructed on idle land along Jiseokcheon in Nampyeong and Yeongsan River in Anchang-dong to promote residents' health, friendship, leisure activities, and attract tourists. Additionally, as one of the key pending projects of the 8th elected Naju City administration, the city plans to restore the water quality and ecological environment of Najucheon, which runs through the old downtown area, and develop it into a representative tourist attraction of Naju.

The city is promoting southern regional wide-area tourism development projects such as the Bitgaram Lake Performance Hall and Yeongsan River Panorama Tourist Attraction. To build the southern region K-tourism leisure belt, the city is developing wide-area tourism connecting five cities and provinces including Jeollanam-do, Gwangju, Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam to revitalize regional tourism.

▲ Completion of Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint Innovation City as a Model for Regional Balanced Development

In preparation for the second relocation of public institutions to the innovation city, the city has planned to create "new vitality" through the construction of the National Energy Specialized Science Museum and the Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint Innovation City Complex Innovation Center. It is expected to become a new landmark of Naju combining science, culture, and leisure.

A living SOC complex center, which includes various facilities necessary for daily life such as childcare, welfare, medical care, culture, sports, and parks to enhance citizens' everyday convenience and safety, will be built. The city plans to complete the detailed design by October and accelerate the groundbreaking aiming for completion by December next year.

Efforts are also accelerating to improve residential conditions in Bitgaram Innovation City. The city aims to increase residents' satisfaction by expanding schools, childcare facilities, and play spaces. A "Children's Theme Park" and "Children's Sports Experience Center" will be created for young generations with children to spend time together.

▲ Cultivating a Premium Educational City to Nurture Future Talents

Naju City is making every effort to become a premium educational city that attracts people for education. In February, it was designated as a pilot area for the government's education development special zone project. By establishing an education development special zone, local governments, education support offices, universities, and public institutions will cooperate to provide quality education from early childhood to university even in provincial areas.

To build a virtuous cycle structure where talents from Naju can work locally, the Korea Polytechnic University Naju Power Technology Education Center will open industry-academia cooperation employment package courses, aiming for completion in the first half of next year.

The plan to establish Bitgaram-dong Elementary School, a key project of the 8th elected Naju City administration, is expected to accelerate with the confirmation of the school complex facility contest project. Along with this, the city plans to actively support solving the shortage of middle school classrooms through class expansion.

▲ Transforming into a Sustainable Agricultural City with Hope for Tomorrow

The city is focusing on fostering and supporting competitive agricultural and food processing industries. It plans to promote agricultural product consumption and activate agricultural food processing, selecting and supporting qualified companies in marketing, networking, and other fields.

Following the favorable reviews for the "Millennium Connection Naju Pear," introduced for the first time last year with excellent taste and quality, the city will further strive to cultivate high-quality premium Naju pears. Through professional technical guidance on harvest timing by variety, the city plans to fully supply quality-assured Naju pears to the consumer market and firmly establish them as a leading domestic fruit brand that can be trusted and purchased 365 days a year.

The city is also laying the foundation for fostering premium Korean beef. Selected for Jeollanam-do's "2024 Top Korean Beef Calf Brand" project, it secured 100 million KRW in provincial funds and a total project budget of 200 million KRW to promote Korean beef improvement projects. To keep pace with the rapidly changing agricultural environment, the city is accelerating the creation of smart farms to strengthen the competitiveness and increase the income of local farmers.

▲ Naju Where All Generations Are Equally Happy

The operation of 365-day hourly childcare rooms (currently 2 locations) will be expanded. Following the opening of the 365-day hourly childcare room located in Bitgaram-dong, Naju City, on September 22, 2023, another 365-day year-round hourly care childcare room opened in Nampyeong-eup on March 15, 2024, attracting attention. To expand public and national childcare centers, a pledge of the 8th elected administration, the city aims to increase four public childcare centers. Two centers (Haneulchae, Woori Lin APT) opened in 2023, one center (Yangwoo River City APT) in 2024, and plans to add one more center at Naju Station Xi APT in 2025.

The age eligibility for 50% support for shingles vaccination for healthy old age will be lowered from 63 years and older to 60 years and older. The "Bandabi Sports Center," a facility for sports welfare that no one is discriminated against and everyone can enjoy, is scheduled to be completed in the second half of this year. It is a sports facility prioritizing use by people with disabilities but also allowing non-disabled people to freely engage in diverse activities within their residential area.

Following the veterans' honor allowance in 2023, the city will increase allowances related to "war veterans" from July 2024 and fully support insurance premiums for electric wheelchairs for the disabled. To provide more transparent and trustworthy administrative services to citizens, the city plans to attach nameplates with the names of responsible officials on major facilities to enhance accountability and pride of the staff in charge.

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae of Naju said, "Thanks to the warm encouragement and support from citizens who said 'Naju has changed' over the past two years, not only I but also our public officials could gain more strength," adding, "During the remaining term, I will do my best to make Naju stand tall as the era of 5 million Naju tourism and a global small but strong city of 200,000 people."

He added, "Together with the citizens, we will create a Naju where people take pride in living and all generations can enjoy the highest quality of life and happiness in their daily lives."

Naju = Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yuk-bong baekok@asiae.co.kr