Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun Proposes 'Gyeonggi Province-Four Cities Joint Meeting'
Debate Continues Over Prioritization in Gyeonggi Metropolitan Railroad Network Plan
Controversy between Gyeonggi Province and four local governments over the 'Gyeonggi Southern Metropolitan Railroad' project, which connects Seoul Jamsil Sports Complex Station with Seongnam, Yongin, Suwon, and Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province, shows no signs of subsiding.
In particular, Lee Sang-il, mayor of Yongin, has repeatedly criticized Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon for excluding the Gyeonggi Southern Metropolitan Railroad from the priority list of metropolitan railroads.
Amid ongoing conflicts between Gyeonggi Province and Yongin City over the Gyeonggi Southern Metropolitan Railroad project, Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il is intensifying his criticism of Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon. At the Gyeonggi Province-City and County Policy Meeting last November, Mayor Lee demanded the disclosure of the feasibility study results for the GTX Plus project, a campaign pledge of Governor Kim. Photo by Yongin City
On the 15th, Mayor Lee Sang-il said, "Since September last year, I have repeatedly proposed meetings with Governor Kim and the mayors of the four cities?Yongin, Suwon, Hwaseong, and Seongnam?that have been jointly promoting this project, but Governor Kim has not responded and has consistently been uncommunicative," pressuring him to accept the 'Gyeonggi Province-4 Cities Joint Meeting' proposal made by Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun the day before.
Earlier, Mayor Lee Jae-jun announced on his Facebook that he proposed a joint meeting between Gyeonggi Province and the four cities to resolve conflicts surrounding the Gyeonggi Southern Metropolitan Railroad. Mayor Lee said, "The Gyeonggi Southern Metropolitan Railroad project is turning into a political dispute and blame-shifting, which is very concerning."
Mayor Lee Sang-il stated, "Governor Kim signed an agreement with the mayors in February 2023, promising to support the Gyeonggi Southern Metropolitan Railroad, but when he set the priority for metropolitan railroad projects in June last year and submitted it to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, he placed his three GTX Plus projects as priorities 1 to 3 and pushed the Gyeonggi Southern Metropolitan Railroad project to a lower priority," adding, "He did not provide any explanation or consultation to the four city mayors during this process, betraying the spirit of the agreement."
Regarding Mayor Lee Jae-jun's proposal, Mayor Lee Sang-il said, "I will observe what attitude Governor Kim shows this time," and demanded, "If he meets with the mayors, he should formally apologize for the irresponsible decision last year and the ongoing lack of communication." He added, "He should also present objective data that convincingly explains whether the three GTX Plus projects have higher economic feasibility and validity than the newly proposed Gyeonggi Southern Metropolitan Railroad project."
Mayor Lee Sang-il stated, "Until now, Governor Kim and Gyeonggi Province should present data so that citizens of the four cities and Gyeonggi residents can compare what they have actually done regarding this project."
The new Gyeonggi Southern Metropolitan Railroad project is a 50.7 km line connecting Seoul Sports Complex Station with Seongnam Pangyo, Yongin Sinbong and Seongbok-dong, Suwon Gwanggyo, and Hwaseong Bongdam. The four cities, including Yongin, jointly conducted a feasibility study on this project and concluded that the benefit-cost (B/C) ratio is 1.2, indicating very high economic feasibility.
Earlier, in November last year, Mayor Lee Sang-il demanded, "Gyeonggi Province and Governor Kim should disclose the results of the feasibility study on the GTX Plus projects, which were conducted with residents' taxes, so that residents can compare which is better between the Gyeonggi Southern Metropolitan Railroad and the three GTX Plus projects," but Gyeonggi Province has not yet disclosed related information.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
