Where Will the Gwonseon-gu Office Site Be Located?

The city has tentatively selected a site in front of Haniljeonsang Women's High School in Tap-dong as the location for the new Gwonseon-gu Office. However, as the Seoul National University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has reiterated its request for the city to purchase their site, there appears to be a possibility that the city may reconsider its selection for the Gwonseon-gu Office site.

According to the "2020 Suwon Urban Master Plan" announced by the city on the 25th of last month, which received basic plan approval from the Ministry of Construction and Transportation on November 17, 2003, the city originally planned to purchase a portion of the Seoul College of Agriculture and Life Sciences site (approximately 12,000 pyeong) that had relocated to the Seoul Gwanak Campus within this year, and construct public facilities such as a social welfare center that was lacking in the Gwonseon area and southwestern Suwon region.

However, when the Rural Development Administration began pursuing the acquisition of approximately 50,000 pyeong of the agriculture college site, the college rejected the city's land purchase request.

Nevertheless, as the Rural Development Administration was designated as a target agency for relocation to the new administrative capital, the acquisition of the agricultural college site fell through. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faced issues in securing funds for the 100 billion won in loans for the relocation costs to the Gwanak Campus, and has been requesting the city to reconsider by releasing statements to the media regarding the use of their site.

Meanwhile, the city tentatively selected a site in front of Haniljeonsang Women's High School located in Tap-dong (approximately 40,000 pyeong) as the location for the Gwonseon-gu Office through civic hearings and other procedures. However, the city has faced difficulties, with the undemocratic nature of the site selection process being raised during a policy question session at the 226th extraordinary session held on September 3rd.

According to an official from the City's Urban Planning Division, "Recently, as the Rural Development Administration's acquisition of the agricultural college site has become uncertain, the college has been requesting the city to purchase their site," and "The city has not yet made a final decision on the site in front of Haniljeonsang Women's High School as the Gwonseon-gu Office location."