Cho Cheongrae, a People Power Party preliminary candidate for mayor of the special city of Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province in the 9th nationwide simultaneous local elections, has expressed his ambition to usher in an era of a population of 1.1 million by 2035.
At a press conference held at the city hall press center on the 26th, the preliminary candidate Cho said, "I will restart Changwon's stalled growth clock, overcome the demographic cliff, and enable the city to make a fresh leap forward as a true central city of the Republic of Korea with a population of 1.1 million by 2035."
He said, "I will link the key industries of Jinhae, Masan, and Changwon into a triangular formation to create a dynamic Changwon where people and young people gather," and presented his pledges divided into the Jinhae area, Changwon area, and Masan area.
Cho Cheongrae, a People Power Party preliminary candidate for Changwon mayor in the 9th nationwide local elections, is announcing policy pledges. Photo by Lee Seryeong
First, for the Jinhae area, he pledged to open 9 berths at Jinhae New Port by 2032, then expand through phases 2 and 3 to 21 berths by 2040, when completion is scheduled, thereby creating more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs by the time Jinhae New Port is fully completed.
Together with the creation of a hinterland city for Jinhae New Port, his strategy is to completely redraw the urban planning for the areas of Ungdong 1-dong and 2-dong and Ungcheon-dong, establish a new town that integrates housing, education, and environment, and thereby raise the population of Jinhae to 300,000.
Next, for the Changwon area, he pledged to advance the nuclear power, defense, and machinery industries; accelerate the designation and development of a second national industrial complex; increase exports of nuclear power plants and defense products; support local companies in growing into global small but strong enterprises; apply artificial intelligence (AI) and robot technologies to the traditional machinery industry; and make the Changwon National Industrial Complex smarter.
For the Masan area, he said he would transform Masanhappo-gu into a forward base for digital AI and cultural content, and designate the closed Lotte Department Store Masan branch and the Masan Marine New Town area as the "first cultural industry promotion district in South Gyeongsang Province."
He plans to purchase the Lotte Department Store Masan branch building to create a "vertical campus," cluster departments related to cultural industries such as games, webtoons, and video, and attract global game companies and AI companies to the upper floors of the building.
He intends to provide tax benefits such as exemptions from acquisition and registration taxes to tenant companies, and to enable students to study on the campus and then find employment at companies located on the upper floors of the same building.
He also said he would foster the "physical AI" industry, which controls robots, autonomous driving, and smart factories as a real-world AI, as a core source of livelihood for Masan.
The preliminary candidate Cho said, "This is not the time for Changwon to maintain the status quo or pursue passive policies," and emphasized, "If we implement aggressive and expansionary policies such as the designation and development of a second national industrial complex in Uichang-gu, the development of a logistics hinterland complex for Jinhae New Port in Jinhae-gu, the promotion of a Masan digital free trade zone, and the development of the Lotte Department Store Masan branch site and its surrounding area into a cultural industry zone, increasing the population will not be difficult."
He went on to say, "When Jinhae in the east becomes the heart of logistics, Masan in the west becomes the wings of digital and culture, and central Changwon unites as a solid body of nuclear power, defense, and machinery, our Changwon will regain its status as a city of 1.1 million people by 2035," adding, "Engraving in my heart the motto of former President Kim Young-sam, 'Daedomumun (大道無門),' which contains the meaning that there is nothing to hinder a person from following the proper path and moral principles that must be observed, I will compete with policies and competence without resorting to tricks."
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