GWANGYANG — Mayor Park Sung-hyun has begun moving in earnest to deliver the "Gwangyang Great Transformation," the central policy direction of his term.
The city said it held a kickoff meeting of the Gwangyang Great Transformation task force at city hall on the 8th, chaired by Park. About 30 city officials attended.
The city has formally launched work on six major projects, including the opening of an international car ferry route and efforts to bring public-sector institutions to the city. The meeting was arranged to move Park's transformation plan into a concrete implementation phase. Participants shared implementation plans for each of the six projects and discussed key issues and responses.
Park heads the task force himself and will oversee the projects directly. The vice mayor serves as deputy head, and dedicated units handle detailed implementation for each project.
The task force comprises six teams: a Seoul National University Hospital team, an international car ferry team, a K-container team, a public-sector institution team, a multipurpose arena team and a university campus team. Each team brings together relevant city departments, affiliated agencies and private-sector experts.
The city plans to use the teams to flesh out implementation plans for each project.
The Seoul National University Hospital team is pursuing a hub for occupational medicine and rehabilitation care, reflecting Gwangyang's character as a steel and chemical industry city. Building a "Seoul National University Hospital national medical cluster for occupational medicine and rehabilitation" is a core pledge of Park's. The city is pursuing the project not as a simple expansion of local medical facilities but as a national project specializing in occupational medicine to support industrial sites nationwide.
The plan calls for a hub for occupational medicine research, treatment and rehabilitation centered on Gwangyang, where steel, port, logistics, energy and advanced materials industries are clustered, linked to key national industries such as petrochemicals in Yeosu, shipbuilding at Daebul in Yeongam and aerospace in Sacheon.
The international car ferry team aims to open a regular route linking Gwangyang Port and Japan. The K-container team will work to develop a high-value-added container industry using steel from the Gwangyang steelworks.
The public-sector institution team is focusing on the establishment of new administrative and public agencies, while the multipurpose arena team is pursuing a facility for performances, exhibitions and sports.
The university campus team plans to work on contract-based academic departments tied to local industry and on a foundation for joint research.
Park called for a collaborative system centered on project-based task forces, moving away from the previous approach organized around existing departments.
The city plans to discuss site reviews, funding, infrastructure and private-sector cooperation in an integrated manner. It will also review progress regularly and press its case with the central government and the National Assembly in coordination with political circles and affiliated agencies.
"The Gwangyang Great Transformation is not a choice but an essential strategy for the city's survival and sustained growth," Park said. "We will move quickly on the core projects that will drive the city's structural growth."
The city said it will concentrate its administrative capacity on the major projects following the kickoff meeting.
