From 'Change' to 'Results': Ninth Popular Elected Term to Accelerate 'Happy City, Hopeful Yeoju'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Um In-yong] Yeoju City held its first policy briefing for the ninth popular elected term on the 8th, attended by approximately 130 local and national journalists.

Mayor Lee Chung-woo thanked Yeoju citizens "for creating new history as the first re-elected mayor since Yeoju City's establishment," and said, "I also express gratitude to the journalists who made efforts for citizens' right to know with objective and fair perspectives during the election process, and ask for your continued interest and cooperation regarding Yeoju City."

The policy briefing, which began with a report on the ninth term's major pledges and city administration direction, proceeded with briefings by department heads on the first official approval decision of the ninth term, the 'downtown revitalization urban regeneration project,' and the second official approval decision, the 'side dish support program for senior centers,' followed by spirited question-and-answer exchanges between Mayor Lee Chung-woo and reporters.

Mayor Lee Chung-woo stated, "Yeoju currently stands at a critical turning point," and pledged that "the ninth term will complete planned projects without interruption toward △'an economic city where businesses come and youth return,' △'a balanced development city where downtown and new downtown thrive together,' △'a stay-type tourism city where tourism leads to local economy,' and △'a welfare city where it is good to raise children and seniors are happy,'" resolving "to finish what we started" with determination.

In particular, Mayor Lee highlighted the downtown urban regeneration project as the ninth term's first official approval decision, easing local residents' concerns about downtown hollowing and raising expectations for development.

Recalling "the past four years of carefully laying groundwork by establishing a master plan to harmonize the historical value of downtown with the growth potential of the new downtown," Mayor Lee stated, "we are pursuing various plans with the keywords of attraction, inflow, connection, and diffusion by linking tourism and cultural resources," and predicted that projects carried over from the eighth term, including seasonal festivals on the Nakdong River waterfront, redevelopment of the Jeil Market site, establishment of an AUL Center, and creation of a Gyeonggi Silk cultural space, will become new vitality axes in the downtown area, leading to achievements in regional balanced development and commercial district recovery.

Regarding a question about progress on the new city hall building construction project, which held a groundbreaking ceremony in March, Lee affirmed his commitment: "Full-scale new city hall building construction has been underway since April, and currently site preparation work including tree removal, site grading and filling, and demolition of existing structures is being carried out prior to construction. We will complete site preparation work by the end of this year and aim for completion in April 2029, while doing our best in safety management and construction progress management."

Additionally, regarding the five Gnam semiconductor industrial complexes among 16 general industrial parks being developed with the goal of creating quality jobs and generating new growth engines for Yeoju, Lee stated, "They have passed review by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Metropolitan Area Committee, and we are currently proceeding with land compensation, preparing to begin construction this month."

He continued, "Now what is important is to strengthen innovation capacity and enhance competitiveness as an industrial concentration area," and stated, "While investment environments differ by company, we plan to supplement company-tailored support systems including infrastructure support, and comprehensively utilize Gyeonggi Province's industrial park infrastructure support, corporate investment incentives, cutting-edge industry fostering, and corporate support policies to provide practical assistance to resident companies."

Furthermore, Mayor Lee emphasized that the overall pledge fulfillment rate for Yeoju City during the eighth term, finalized last month, reached 88.5%.

Regarding the side dish support program for senior centers, newly promoted in the ninth term, Mayor Lee stated, "I believe this has significant meaning as a new Yeoju-style welfare that relieves elderly residents' meal preparation burden while increasing consumption of Yeoju agricultural products, establishing a collaborative model between welfare and agriculture." He added, "Since the success of the project depends on smooth on-site operational capacity through multiple stages of production, distribution, and processing, we plan to conduct comprehensive reviews including financial burden based on pilot operation results and expand the program step by step."

Mayor Lee Chung-woo said, "I want to emphasize trust—the belief that we will keep promises made to citizens—as the highest value," and pledged, "Setting aside the fierce competition of the election process, we will do our best until we create a unified and harmonious Yeoju where citizens can experience substantial change that they can feel."