Administrative Convenience Worth 973.5 Billion Won, Economic Ripple Effect Reaches 1.9 Trillion Won
Real Benefits Felt... Actively Seeking Win-Win Cooperation Initiatives
Mokpo City in Jeonnam Province (Mayor Park Hongryul) has selected the integration of Mokpo and Shinan as a key strategy to drive regional development and is making various efforts toward unification.
According to the city on the 9th, reflecting on six previous failed attempts at integration, Mokpo has recognized the need for building a consensus among the private sector first. To this end, the city has established sisterhood ties with the 14 towns and townships of Shinan County and is actively promoting urban-rural exchange and cooperation. In particular, the Mokpo Shinan Integration Promotion Committee, a private-sector integration body, is working to break down barriers between residents and spread the consensus that Mokpo and Shinan are one, through private exchanges, rural volunteer work, promotional tours of island regions, and civic education.
Additionally, the city, together with Shinan County, commissioned a study to analyze the effects of Mokpo-Shinan integration, which identified positive outcomes. They have also discovered and are promoting cooperative projects focused on resident convenience, presenting a vision for the development of both regions. The Mokpo-Shinan integration effect analysis study, jointly conducted by Mokpo City and Shinan County since May last year, aimed to overcome the crisis of regional extinction due to population decline and aging, and to establish joint development strategies following administrative district integration.
In July of last year, Park Hongryul, Mayor of Mokpo (left), explained the analysis service on the effects of the integration with Sinan County. Provided by Mokpo City
According to the results of the integration effect analysis, in the administrative sector, the benefits were estimated at 973.5 billion KRW compared to a cost of 6.3 billion KRW. Economically, the induced production and added value effects were calculated at 1.9656 trillion KRW. These effects are expected to lead to job creation and increased employment. In the tourism sector, the number of tourists is projected to increase from 8.887 million in 2022 to 22 million in 2027, with the direct spending effect from this increase expected to reach approximately 3.3 trillion KRW.
Based on these positive integration effects, the city is distributing educational and promotional materials to employees, local organizations, and citizens to spread awareness of the necessity of integration.
Furthermore, the positive effects of Mokpo-Shinan integration, such as the provision of quality jobs and improved living conditions, are expected to create a virtuous cycle where young people settle in the region, have children, and raise families. The city plans to actively conduct outreach promotional campaigns so that residents of both regions can agree that this is the path to preventing regional extinction and fostering development.
Since the sisterhood agreement between the 23 administrative welfare centers in Mokpo and the 14 local organizations in Shinan County last year, ongoing cooperative exchanges have been building consensus and trust for Mokpo-Shinan integration.
In addition, the Mokpo Shinan Integration Promotion Committee (Chairman Choi Taeok), a private-sector integration body, has been conducting various activities to foster an atmosphere for integration, such as hosting the Eoul Academy, a messenger training program to promote the necessity and justification of integration, volunteer activities on islands, promoting the effects of Mokpo-Shinan integration to returning residents, and exchanges between resident organizations from both regions.
A committee official stated, "The process toward integration is difficult and slow, but it is a task that must be accomplished to strengthen regional competitiveness and for future generations," and added, "The steering committee, publicity division, and youth division will continue to make all-out efforts to build consensus and achieve the historic mission of integration."
In particular, the city is accelerating preparations to resolve the issue of the four-day market for Shinan residents by expanding one cremation furnace and introducing a priority crematorium reservation system for Mokpo and Shinan citizens starting this year.
Additionally, both the city and county are jointly developing a variety of tourism products to enhance tourism competitiveness, and Mokpo City is purchasing eco-friendly agricultural products from Shinan County worth 1 billion KRW through the Mokpo School Meal Support Center to increase the income of Shinan farmers. Furthermore, the Mokpo student rural study program in Shinan, designed to provide eco-friendly education, was initially planned as a residential program for elementary and middle school students starting this year. However, due to delays in the expansion and renovation of Imja Elementary School, it will be replaced with an after-school horseback riding weekend program and will be piloted next year.
The two local governments are expected to secure the implementation of cooperative projects through a memorandum of understanding and to greatly contribute to improving resident convenience and establishing an administrative cooperation system for integration by continuously discovering additional cooperative projects.
Mayor Park Hongryul stated, "Integration is no longer a choice but a necessity for the future of the region," and added, "We will take a step further from Mokpo-Shinan integration to build an integrated administrative system for the Muan Peninsula, leading to the joint development of the southwestern region."
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