Former 2nd Deputy Mayor of Changwon Special City Cho Myungrae Vows to Relocate Changwon Special City Hall to Masan Marine New Town

Connecting the mountain peaks on the outskirts of Masan, Changwon, and Jinhae to create a 70-kilometer Grand Integration Sky Deck Road

"Together with 1 million citizens, I will write a new 100-year history of Changwon"

"I will relocate the Changwon Special City Hall to the Masan Marine New Town and use the current city hall building as a second government office."

Former 2nd Deputy Mayor of Changwon Special City in South Gyeongsang Province, Cho Myungrae, held a press conference on the 10th in the city hall briefing room to declare his candidacy for Changwon mayor and made this announcement.

At the same time, he put forward the slogan "From integration to coexistence, a 100-year vision for Changwon's future" and began his full-fledged election campaign.

Cho Myungrae, former second deputy mayor of Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam, is announcing his candidacy for mayor of Changwon. Photo by Lee Seryeong

Cho said at city hall that day, "Over the past three years, as the incumbent 2nd Deputy Mayor, I have run the municipal administration together with more than 5,000 public officials and have clearly seen both the structural limitations and the opportunities of the city," adding, "Based on the experience and insight gained during the 8th popularly elected term, I will design a new future for Changwon."

In particular, he assessed the current situation in Changwon as one in which the administrative district integration has succeeded, but the imbalance between regions has deepened.

In response, Cho presented a concrete regional vision in which the three zones of Masan, Changwon, and Jinhae can grow together. He said he would relocate the main building of the Changwon Special City Hall to Masan Marine New Town and make it the control tower, using this move as the driving force to develop Masan into an administrative and cultural hub city. The current city hall building will be used as a second government office.

He plans to turn Changwon into a functional city where industry and corporate-support administration coexist. By promoting National Industrial Complex 2.0, he aims to attract a medical school and a medical research complex, and to improve residential conditions through a reorganization of the district unit plan, thereby creating a better place to live in Changwon.

For Jinhae, he proposed focusing on maritime industry and tourism, lifting height restrictions by relocating the Jinhae Education Command within its jurisdiction, and ushering in an era of "Marine Renaissance" as a four-season resort city.

In particular, he pledged to create a "70-kilometer Grand Integration Sky Deck Road" connecting the mountain peaks on the outskirts of the three zones of Masan, Changwon, and Jinhae, and to make it a landmark of Changwon.

Regarding his ongoing trial, Cho said, "From the very beginning, it started as a scheme to bring me down," and added, "All of this will be justly clarified in court."

He also said, "I feel sorry and apologetic to the citizens for the shortcomings during the 8th popularly elected term."

Cho said, "Changwon is a great city that led Korea's industrialization and democratization, but now it must move beyond the label of 'a city that used to thrive,'" and added, "As someone who has actually run the municipal administration, I will realize transparent and efficient communication-oriented governance."

He appealed for support, saying, "I will create a prosperous and coexisting Changwon that excludes no one, beyond ideology and political parties, and I will write a new 100-year history of Changwon together with its 1 million citizens."