Jeong Jin-wook ‘Best Veterans Hospital’… Nam-gu is considering Songam Park and Nodae-dong

Jeong Jin-wook “The best hospital for Veterans Affairs”… Nam-gu is considering Songam Park and Nodae-dong

(Jeonnam Gwangju = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Cheol-hong = In a situation where it has not even been confirmed whether or not to host the Gwangju branch of the National Assembly Library in Nam-gu, differences of opinion are emerging within Nam-gu, Jeollanam-do Gwangju Unified Special City over the candidate site for construction.

The local congressman and the attraction promotion committee are putting forward the site of the former Veterans Hospital as the best site, but Nam-gu is reviewing alternative sites such as Songam Neighborhood Park and Nodae-dong due to the burden of land costs, exposing the conflict.

On the 14th, the ‘Library of the National Assembly Gwangju Branch Promotion Committee for the former Veterans Hospital site’ held a press conference at the Gwangju building of the Jeonnam Gwangju City Council and urged the site of the former Veterans Hospital.

About 2,000 people are participating in the promotion committee, including Jeong Jin-wook (Gwangju Dongnam Gap), a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, as well as residents, politicians, academia, labor, culture and arts, religion, and civil society figures.

The Promotion Committee warned, "The former Veterans Hospital is the optimal location that satisfies both the conditions required by the National Assembly and the conditions desired by the citizens of Gwangju, Jeollanam-do," and added, "If Nam-gu's bid to host the hospital falls through due to Nam-gu's insistence on a less competitive location, we will have to take responsibility."

Rep. Jeong and the Promotion Committee emphasized that the former Veterans Affairs Hospital is a 26,000㎡ public land owned by Nam-gu, so the project can be promoted quickly without purchasing private land or land expropriation, and it is adjacent to Baekun Square Station on Urban Railway Line 2, so accessibility is excellent.

The Promotion Committee requested the National Assembly and the government to expedite the site feasibility study and establishment of a basic plan, and to quickly decide on the former Veterans Affairs Hospital as the proposed site for construction, and also decided to push for a citizen-wide signature campaign of 100,000 people.

Unlike Rep. Jeong and others who suggested the Veterans Hospital as the optimal location, Nam-gu is currently considering the area of ​​836 Nodae-dong and the area of ​​Songam Neighborhood Park in Songha-dong as candidate sites for the Gwangju branch of the National Assembly Library.

While the value of the former Veterans Hospital site is worth 100 billion won, the land compensation cost being reviewed by the National Assembly Secretariat is about 5 billion won, so internal opinions are conflicting as Nam-gu believes that there is a great financial burden in releasing old property as a national project site.

As several areas in Gwangju, including the former Gwangju Prison in Buk-gu and the vicinity of Jungoe Park, are engaged in a bid to host the Gwangju branch of the National Assembly Library, attention is being paid to how the internal competition for candidate sites, which broke out before the decision to host Nam-gu, will affect future bids.