Suwon Military Airport Relocation Project Should Receive Active Government Support to be Expedited

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Suwon Special City Mayor Lee Jae-joon and 5 National Assembly members from Suwon met with Defense Minister An Gyu-baek on the 8th and delivered a ‘Joint petition for promoting Suwon military airport relocation as a national strategic project.’

Mayor Lee Jae-joon and Representatives Baek Hye-ryeon (Suwon City District 2), Kim Young-jin (Suwon City District 3), Kim Seung-won (Suwon City District 1), Yeom Tae-young (Suwon City District 5), and Kim Jun-hyuk (Suwon City District 6) visited the Ministry of Defense and delivered the petition, stating “The Suwon military airport relocation is a national strategic project to strengthen national defense capabilities and resolve citizen damages” and “We request active government support so that the military airport relocation project is expedited.”

The petition items include △Supporting the composition and operation of a ‘Military Airport Relocation Task Force (TF)’ under the Ministry of Defense △Supporting the composition and operation of a ‘Conflict Resolution Coordination Committee’ under the Prime Minister’s Office △Supporting the development of a national advanced strategic industry complex (artificial intelligence, defense industry) on the relocated site.

Representatives Baek Hye-ryeon and Kim Young-jin stated that the Suwon military airport relocation is a national strategic project to strengthen national defense and resolve citizen damages, while Representatives Kim Seung-won and Yeom Tae-young said the military airport relocation should be promoted as a national strategic project. Representative Kim Jun-hyuk stated he will make efforts to realize both the Suwon military airport relocation and the construction of Gyeonggi South International Airport.

Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-joon stated “The Suwon military airport relocation is a key national task of the current administration and an important state project involving citizen safety, the Republic of Korea’s national defense, and balanced national development,” and requested that “the Defense Ministry accelerate the pace of selecting relocation sites and promoting the relocation project.”

In response, Defense Minister An Gyu-baek stated “To create momentum for the stalled Suwon military airport relocation project, I will visit Suwon and Hwaseong cities to actively gather opinions.”

Meanwhile, Suwon City plans to work closely with local National Assembly members and continue cooperating with the Ministry of Defense to make the Suwon military airport relocation project yield visible results with all available resources.