Issue Mega-city Namyangju Needs 'Tangible Employment Engine' Befitting Fourth Industrial Revolution Era

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Jin-ho] Namyangju City, which possesses the largest area and a population of 740,000 among cities in Gyeonggi Province and has emerged as a bona fide 'mega-city', faces a critical crossroads as it approaches the next mayoral election.

With fierce competition between incumbent Mayor Ju Gwang-deok (People Power Party) and candidate Choi Hyun-deok (Democratic Party), the biggest topic of this election is undoubtedly 'practical economic strategy to resolve citizens' livelihood issues'.

While Namyangju City has led urban growth based on its vast territory, it faces the long-standing challenge of overlapping regulations such as water source protection areas.

In particular, residents of Jo-an-myeon and Hwado-eup continue to experience significant economic constraints. Accordingly, residents are calling on the city to inherit existing deregulation efforts while taking a step further and materializing innovative economic revitalization measures such as introducing 'regulatory sandboxes' that apply regulatory exemptions to specific industries.

Most importantly, citizens are sending both expectations and sharp criticism regarding the business attraction strategy for Wangsuk New City, the key to completing Namyangju's economically self-sufficient city. Data centers, which are currently the focus of active recruitment discussions, have high value as digital infrastructure but show clear limitations in actually creating jobs within the region.

In the past, Gyeonggi Province agreed to sell land through private contract at a construction headquarters site in Suwon under the pretext of building a 'Samsung Electronics Research Institute'. However, critics point out the result was different.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. transferred the site to Samsung SDS Co., Ltd., contrary to initial promises, and what was established at the site was not a research center bustling with researchers but Samsung SDS Co., Ltd.'s 'Suwon Data Center'. This case, where the promise of job creation to citizens was undermined, suggests that business attraction should focus on 'substance' rather than 'name'.

In response, Namyangju civil society is stating, "We do not want to be merely a bedroom community; we want to be a confident economic hub in northeastern Gyeonggi Province," and "The next mayoral candidates must answer with concrete policies on how they will equip Namyangju with a 'tangible employment engine' to take responsibility for the city's future 100 years."