Goyang Citizens Unite in Calling for JDS District to Be Designated as an Economic Free Zone

Completion of Resident Opinion Hearing on Additional Designation and Development Plan of Goyang JDS District in Gyeongja Free Economic Zone
Goyang Citizens Agree on the Necessity of Goyang JDS District Free Economic Zone... "Hope for Swift Promotion"
Goyang City "Will Carefully Review Citizens' Valuable Opinions Together with Gyeonggi-do"

Goyang City Hall exterior.

Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Dong-hwan) is gaining significant support from its citizens for the proposed additional designation of the Goyang JDS District as an Economic Free Zone.

According to the city on the 23rd, from the 2nd to the 20th of this month, about 100 Goyang residents reviewed the development plans for the Economic Free Zone, including land use plans, through the “Resident Opinion Hearing Procedure for Additional Designation of Gyeonggi Economic Free Zones” conducted by the Gyeonggi Economic Free Zone Authority. Over 50 resident opinion submissions were received.

Excluding some opinions related to compensation and changes in land use plans, most citizens who submitted opinions urged the active and swift promotion of the Goyang JDS District Economic Free Zone, the city explained.

Through the resident opinion hearing process, Goyang citizens empathized with the city’s difficulties in attracting businesses and establishing an industrial base due to overlapping regulations. They strongly voiced that the designation of an Economic Free Zone is essential for the city, which currently functions mainly as a bedroom community, to develop self-sustaining capabilities.

Goyang City is pushing for the designation of approximately 17.66㎢ of the Goyang JDS District as an Economic Free Zone to overcome overlapping regulations such as the Overcrowding Control Zone, Development Restriction Zone, and Military Facility Protection Zone, and to advance toward becoming a global self-sustaining city. In November 2022, it was selected as the first candidate site for additional Economic Free Zone designation in northern Gyeonggi.

Since then, the city, together with Gyeonggi Province, has established a development plan reflecting the city’s prime location and characteristics, and completed the resident opinion hearing, a preliminary procedure for applying for additional Economic Free Zone designation, on the 20th.

A city official stated, “Through this resident opinion hearing process, we could sense the citizens’ strong desire for the development of Goyang City and the promotion of the Goyang JDS District Economic Free Zone. We will carefully review and incorporate the valuable opinions of citizens together with the Gyeonggi Economic Free Zone Authority as much as possible.”

He added, “With the completion of the resident opinion hearing procedure, we believe we are one step closer to the final designation of the Goyang JDS District as an Economic Free Zone. We ask for the continued interest and support of citizens in the upcoming administrative procedures, including the application to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy scheduled for November.”