Suwon and Gyeonggi Province in "Bipartisan Cooperation"

Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young and Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo are drawing attention as they have agreed to mutually cooperate in resolving pending issues for regional development in the Suwon area.

Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young met with Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo on the 29th of last month, before taking office, and requested the province's active support in resolving pending issues in the Suwon area that require cooperation from Gyeonggi Province.

Mayor Yeom proposed the province's full support for the region's most significant pending matters: the lifting of the emergency runway designation at Suwon Airfield and the promotion of airfield relocation, as well as attracting Samsung LED sector investment to the Suwon area following the National Assembly's rejection of the revised Sejong City plan.

In response, Governor Kim expressed sympathy with Mayor Yeom's proposals, stating that "while there has been some progress regarding the lifting of the emergency runway designation, the ultimate goal of airfield relocation presents many technical difficulties. It would be desirable to obtain more objective and persuasive professional materials related to arguments for airfield relocation."

He also stated that "the province is currently promoting the development of prestigious middle and high schools to enable researchers residing in Seoul to relocate to Suwon in connection with the creation of Samsung's research complex in Suwon, and will actively cooperate in attracting investment so that investments can be centered on Samsung's production facilities located in the Suwon and Hwaseong areas," promising active cooperation.

Additionally, Governor Kim indicated his willingness to prioritize support by reflecting the remaining 10 billion won in provincial budget funds for early completion of Samsung-ro expansion construction in the 2011 initial budget. Regarding requests for provincial budget support for the Hwaseong restoration project, it was reported that a plan to provide support for specific facilities is being reviewed.

In particular, regarding Mayor Yeom's view that "improvements are needed in personnel exchange between the province and city to resolve promotion congestion among city-affiliated civil servants and boost employee morale," Governor Kim stated that "personnel matters will fundamentally respect the city's opinions to the maximum extent."

Through this meeting, Mayor Yeom and Governor Kim agreed to actively cooperate with each other for regional development, transcending their respective party affiliations, thus clearly dispelling some concerns about discord due to their different party affiliations that had emerged during the election period.