Team Suwon Built by Lee Jae-jun Moves Into Key Government Posts

People whom Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun has carefully cultivated for the relocation of Suwon's military airport are increasingly taking positions on the core decision-making lines of the government and political circles.

On the 1st, President Lee Jae-myung appointed Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byung-joo as Special Presidential Advisor for Defense Policy at the Presidential Office.

Advisor Kim, a four-star general who served as deputy commander of the United States-Korea Combined Forces Command, is a defense policy expert who has been active in the National Assembly's Defense Committee.

A Presidential Office official explained the appointment rationale, saying, "Special Advisor Kim Byung-joo is a defense policy expert from the Army General ranks, and under the banner that strong defense power is the key pillar in protecting national interests, he is the right person to add the people's voice to national security and defense reform tasks."

The relationship between Advisor Kim and Mayor Lee dates back to 2022, the first year of Lee's tenure as mayor.

That December, the mayor visited the National Assembly and requested support from Advisor Kim for the construction of Gyeonggi International Airport. At that time, Advisor Kim stated, "The construction of Gyeonggi International Airport will be an agenda item of the Defense Committee next year."

An official who had worked diligently on connecting military airport relocation with international airport construction from the early days of his tenure has risen to a position advising the president on defense policy after more than four years.

He also built connections with Democratic Party leader Kim Min-suk through military airport relocation.

In January, when Kim served as prime minister, Mayor Lee met him directly at the Suwon Convention Center and requested that the "civil-military integration, economic international airport" through Suwon military airport relocation be pursued as a national strategic project.

In particular, he also presented a specific plan to establish a "Suwon Military Airport Relocation Conflict Resolution Committee" under the Prime Minister's Office, asking the central government to directly intervene in conflict resolution between local governments.

Former Prime Minister Kim, who received the mayor's proposal at that time, was elected as the Democratic Party leader in August. The two people, Kim Min-suk and Kim Byung-joo, to whom Mayor Lee directly requested support for military airport relocation, have been appointed to key positions as the ruling party leader and the presidential defense policy advisor, respectively.

He has consistently worked toward the National Assembly as well.

Last year, Mayor Lee, together with National Assembly members from Suwon including Kim Seung-won (Suwon A), Baek Hye-ryeon (Suwon B), Kim Young-jin (Suwon C), Kim Jun-hyuk (Suwon D), and Yeom Tae-young (Suwon E) from the Democratic Party, proposed to the new administration the expansion of a "pan-governmental military airport relocation task force."

At a party and government policy consultation meeting in March this year, he requested efforts to ensure that Gyeonggi International Airport be reflected in the 7th Comprehensive Airport Development Plan. Subsequently, in July, he formally proposed support for the enactment of a "Special Act Related to Suwon Military Airport Relocation."

Such coordination has translated into actual legislation.

Lawmaker Kim Young-jin introduced on the 30th of last month the "Special Act on the Relocation of Suwon Military Airport and Development of Surrounding Areas and Former Sites," with all five Suwon area members of the National Assembly signing onto the bill.

The special act includes provisions for support for relocation areas, surrounding areas, and former sites, as well as exemptions regarding deregulation, designation of free economic zones, and private airport development.

In particular, former Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young, now a lawmaker, is currently serving on the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Committee.

Mayor Lee worked with Yeom as a vice mayor during his tenure as mayor, addressing military airport relocation issues. After taking over as mayor, he has brought military airport relocation and Gyeonggi International Airport to the fore as shared agenda items through regular policy consultations with Yeom and other regional lawmakers.

At the top of "Team Suwon" is President Lee Jae-myung.

During his 2022 presidential campaign, President Lee visited Suwon and presented "completion of Suwon military airport relocation" as a regional election pledge. He promised to smoothly promote military airport relocation and establish a "K-Silicon Valley" at the former site.

Gyeonggi Province has also established institutional foundations for promoting Gyeonggi International Airport.

The province established the Gyeonggi International Airport Promotion Task Force and enacted the "Gyeonggi Province International Airport Attraction and Construction Promotion Support Ordinance" to pursue related research and projects. The province has also proposed the Gyeonggi International Airport project in the 7th Comprehensive Airport Development Plan.

However, the Gyeonggi International Airport policy does not necessarily mean Suwon military airport relocation. Since military airports are excluded from the scope of application in Gyeonggi Province's ordinance, coordination between the central government, Gyeonggi Province, and relevant local governments is necessary to link the two projects.

The recent relocation of Gwangju Military Airport demonstrates that active central government coordination can change the pace of a long-stalled project.

Gwangju Military Airport also stalled for a long time due to conflicts between local governments, but reached a turning point when President Lee instructed the formation of a task force led by the Presidential Office last year.

Subsequently, the Presidential Office directly intervened in coordination through a consultative body involving Gwangju City, Jeollanam-do Province, Muan County, and the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Ministry of Strategy and Finance, accelerating the relocation agreement by late last year and the candidate site selection process this year.

Gwangju and Suwon differ in the conditions of relocation areas, public acceptance, and project structure, making simple comparison difficult. Suwon Military Airport still faces the most challenging hurdle: consultation with relocation areas.

Nevertheless, since the precedent has been set with Gwangju Military Airport relocation, which had stalled for a long time, gaining momentum through direct Presidential Office coordination, Suwon Military Airport also has the possibility of entering a new phase if the central government actively engages in coordination.

With the connection of "Team Suwon" that Mayor Lee has carefully built over the past four years now reaching the Presidential Office defense policy line, attention is focused on whether the accumulated efforts will translate into tangible results that Suwon citizens can feel.