Mayor of Jeonju announces position on review of food tourism creative town project

Jo Ji-hoon, Mayor of Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, announced his position to reexamine the 'Food Tourism Creative Town' project, which is facing difficulties due to delays in land litigation and the government's policy of abolishing the metropolitan tourism development project.

In response to Assemblyman Choi Yong-cheol's question about the creation of a food tourism creative town at the second plenary session of the 434th regular session of the Jeonju City Council held on the 4th, Mayor Cho said, "It is difficult to ensure normal business promotion under the current conditions."

Since the Food Tourism Creative Town was reflected in the national plan in 2014, it has been taking steps to begin design services in 2024, but the project has been delayed due to litigation over the delivery of the business site.

In addition, as a result of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance's evaluation of the extension of the government subsidy project, it was decided that all projects in the western inland region wide tourism development project will end this year and be finally abolished at the end of 2027, making it impossible to extend the project period further.

In particular, the deadline for executing the existing government funds expires this year, and it is impossible to carry over the 4.1 billion won in government funds that were carried over, so it is inevitable that the entire amount will be disused.

If the project goes ahead, there will be strong financial pressure to invest a total of 21.2 billion won in additional city expenses, including 17.9 billion won in matching city expenses for building completion and 3.3 billion won in content construction and initial operating expenses.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also recommended a decision on whether to proceed with the project before construction began last May due to unsecured local funds, and in August, requested an official document of the final decision to prepare a special budget for 2027.

Mayor Cho diagnosed, "Compared to the feasibility study in 2022, the conditions have changed significantly, such as project delays, abolition of national projects, inability to carry over national funds, and increased financial burden on the city, making it difficult to guarantee normal progress."

However, he added, "As this is a national project that was difficult to secure, we take seriously Rep. Choi's point that we need to find a way to pursue it until the end," and added, "We will closely discuss once again with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Jeonbuk Province to see if there are any additional issues for review."