Guri City Mayor Baek Gyeong-hyeon: "Push for GH Relocation to Guri within the Earliest Possible Time"

[Suwon Ilbo=Eom In-yong Reporter] On the 20th, Guri City Mayor Baek Gyeong-hyeon strongly urged that "Gyeonggi Province must honor the covenant regarding the relocation of Gyeonggi Housing & Urban Development Corporation (hereinafter GH) to Guri City, resume the suspended procedures, and promote the relocation of GH to Guri City within the earliest possible time."

On this day, Mayor Baek held a press conference on city affairs in the main conference hall of the City Women's Happiness Center, expressing strong regret over the province's announcement on the 21st of last month to suspend the GH relocation procedures to Guri City.

Mayor Baek stated, "Regarding the GH relocation procedures to Guri City that have been progressing smoothly under the covenant between Gyeonggi Province, Guri City, and GH, it is an excessive move to unilaterally announce the suspension of administrative procedures without any consultation with the covenant parties."

He also noted that "the opinion regarding Guri City's incorporation into Seoul has been advocated since 2006 to the present across both ruling and opposition political circles, and in recent times, citizen-led discussions on Seoul incorporation have been underway." In fact, Mayor Baek explained that currently in Guri City, the 'Pan-Guri Civic Promotion Committee for Guri to Become Seoul,' which was launched by civilians in February 2024, is active.

Additionally, a public opinion survey on Seoul incorporation conducted in July of the same year to gauge citizens' reactions showed that 66.9% of respondents supported Seoul incorporation. Mayor Baek added that Guri City received budget approval from the city council and is only pursuing research projects to analyze objective facts regarding Seoul incorporation.

Regarding Gyeonggi Province's claim that Seoul incorporation and GH relocation cannot proceed in parallel, he stated, "When Gyeonggi Province announced last year that it would promote GH relocation as promised, discussions regarding Seoul incorporation were already underway in Guri City, and civic organizations were also actively operating," adding "this cannot be a reason for project suspension."

Mayor Baek said, "In order to restore the administrative trust that Gyeonggi Province has broken on its own, it is the way to recover trust as a metropolitan government to honor the covenant on GH relocation to Guri City and promptly resume the suspended procedures to complete the GH relocation at an early date," and requested "Please withdraw the GH relocation procedure suspension promptly."