Cheongju and Sejong reactivate the win-win cooperation working council for the first time in 7 years

Discussion of metropolitan BRT, CTX, Jochiwon-Osong joint marketing, etc.

(Cheongju = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Hyeong-woo = Cheongju City announced that it held a working-level cooperation meeting with Sejong City at Sejong City Hall on the 9th and discussed 25 tasks presented by the two cities.

Attending the council meeting on this day were working-level officials from the two cities, including Cheongju City Planning and Administration Director Cha Young-ho and Sejong City Policy Planning Director Kim Hyun-gi.

Cheongju City presented 18 tasks and Sejong City presented 7 tasks.

Cheongju City proposed the construction of a metropolitan rapid bus system (BRT) connecting the southeastern district of Cheongju and Jiphyeon-dong, Sejong, the development of ultra-wide tourist content linking Korean language and history and culture, and the operation of a metropolitan cooperation organization to establish a metropolitan and urban basic plan.

Sejong City put on the table joint responses to early promotion of the Chungcheong region's metropolitan express railway (CTX), rapid promotion of the Sejong-Cheongju Airport connecting road, and joint marketing of commercial districts in the Jochiwon-Osong region.

An official from Cheongju City said, "We plan to cross-examine each other's tasks, discover additional tasks, and hold working-level discussions again soon."

The two cities signed a win-win cooperation agreement in October 2019.

At that time, Cheongju Mayor Han Beom-deok and Sejong Mayor Lee Chun-hee agreed on 10 projects in four major areas, including sisterhood ties between towns, villages, and districts, discounts on tourist facility usage fees, and the creation of a Sejong-Cheongju trail. However, as the agreement was limited to exchanges, follow-up discussions did not continue.

Cheongju City explains that as Cheongju and Sejong grew together, traffic between Osong and Jochiwon, which are adjacent to each other, also increased.

Accordingly, at a meeting between Cheongju Mayor Lee Jang-seop and Sejong Mayor Cho Sang-ho in September of this year, there was talk of jointly responding to legal and institutional issues, such as the designation of special cities, and finding joint projects focusing on border areas.

Connecting Osong and Jochiwon is also a plan that Mayor Cho has emphasized.

In a conversation with Sejong citizens held in Jochiwon-eup in July of this year, Mayor Cho said, "Although the administrative districts are different, we will focus our administrative power on fostering a self-sufficient city with a population of 200,000 that connects Jochiwon with nearby Cheongju and Osong."