Park Chan-sook "Make Suwon a Designated City First"

―Regarding the demand for simultaneous construction of Shinbundang Line extension.
▲The compatibility assessment for Shinbundang Line extension announced that simultaneous construction lacks economic feasibility. However, as the population grows explosively and transportation demand increases, early and simultaneous construction should be implemented. Gyeonggi Province will contribute 800 billion won, with the national government adding an additional 400 billion won, and combined with the Homaesilji District metropolitan traffic improvement costs, 1.6 trillion won can be secured. We will conduct the feasibility study again and work to make simultaneous construction happen.

―Your position on promoting Suwon as a metropolitan city.
▲Suwon already meets the conditions of a metropolitan city. There is little population difference compared to Ulsan Metropolitan City, and the financial independence rate reaches 80 percent. However, because Suwon has a small area, integration discussions with neighboring municipalities such as Hwaseong and Osan are necessary, and the positions of nearby municipalities with nearly one million residents, such as Seongnam, must also be reflected. To provide high-quality services to citizens, I will propose a "designated city" or "special city" with special local government provisions, the step before metropolitan city status.

―What about the Suwon Airfield relocation issue?
▲Residents' complaints regarding noise from the airfield and restrictions on property rights and altitude restrictions continue. There are 18 lawsuits involving 190,000 people. To resolve this issue, the will of Suwon City and the new government is important. Since there is precedent for releasing five emergency runways, we should first release the emergency runway and relocate the airfield to the Banwol Industrial Complex. Seongnam City has relaxed the flight altitude restriction zone to 45 meters, and is proceeding with a plan to further relax it to 60 meters. I will actively propose this issue to fellow lawmakers and President-elect Lee Myung-bak.

―What is the way forward to revitalize small businesses and traditional markets?
▲When I think of traditional markets, my heart races. My father was a merchant who ran a business for decades in Youngdong Market. Traditional commercial areas have significantly declined due to competition from large department stores and supermarkets. To revitalize traditional markets, countermeasures must be prepared in hardware, software, and human resources aspects. First, I believe it is possible by introducing public design concepts such as sculptural objects in Jidong Market symbolizing Suwon Fortress, fostering merchants' self-reliance measures, and creating markets with things to see by adding culture and tradition.

―Regarding early completion of Bundang Line extension and mitigation measures for residents' inconvenience from construction.
▲The answer to early completion of Bundang Line extension construction lies in emergency budget allocation. It was originally scheduled to open this year, but the current construction progress rate is only at 20 percent. First, we will monitor to ensure completion deadlines are not further delayed, and focus on securing budgets through proposals to the government. A strong government and local government must enter into negotiations. We will also seek ways to minimize inconvenience to citizens during the construction period.

―To meet the high enthusiasm and demand for education.
▲Despite explosive educational demand in Yeongdeungpo District, there are no private schools. Since young parents make up the mainstream, there is high demand for arts high schools. I will make every effort to attract Suwon Arts High School to the Yeongdeungpo area. I believe that actively attracting autonomous private high schools promoted by the Lee Myung-bak administration will have a positive impact on the development of surrounding public schools. We must convert Paldal Industrial High School to a Meister High School to produce intermediate technical manpower and enable industry-academia cooperation.

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