Pyeongtaek to Lead Gyeonggi Province Bid for National Specialized Science Museum

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Pyeongtaek City announced on the 2nd that it has been finally selected as Gyeonggi Province's candidate site in the national specialized science museum public recruitment project overseen by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Previously, Gyeonggi Province invited applications from basic municipal governments within the province to select a candidate site for the National Specialized Science Museum construction project. Pyeongtaek City, Yongin City, Hwaseong City, and Yangpyeong County participated in the public recruitment project.

The province held a selection committee meeting on the 29th of last month to select the final candidate site.

The city was finally selected after receiving excellent evaluations for its geographic advantages including accessibility from the southern Gyeonggi and Chungcheong regions, thorough preparations including data collection for attracting the specialized science museum, results of basic planning feasibility studies, and survey results from residents of the surrounding 11 cities and counties.

A city official stated, "It seems that our strong commitment to attracting the facility led to this positive result."

The province will submit the application documents to the Ministry of Science and ICT by the 5th. The ministry plans to select the final candidate site from among candidate municipalities including Pyeongtaek City by July through document evaluation by the selection committee and on-site inspection of location and surrounding conditions.

If selected in the public recruitment project, the city plans to establish a National Specialized Science Museum themed on basic industrial science within the Pyeongtaek Lake Tourist Complex (Hyunduk-myeon, Gwangwan-ri area, Pyeongtaek City) with a total floor area of 7,200 square meters in a structure consisting of one basement level and two above-ground floors.

Mayor Jeong Jang-seon stated, "If the National Specialized Science Museum is brought to Pyeongtaek City, there is the geographic advantage that citizens from the southern Gyeonggi region and the central and western areas can more easily access science and culture," adding, "We will do our best to attract the museum so that youth who lack opportunities for scientific experience due to insufficient science-based facilities can nurture dreams in the science field and grow into future talent."