Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il, "Will Build Complex Cultural Center on Former Special School Site"

Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin Special Decree City visited the Seongbok-dong Residents Day event held on the 5th at the athletic field of Hyoja Elementary School in Seongbok-dong, Suji-gu, and disclosed the city's plans for the former special school site with these remarks.

The mayor stated, "The city is drawing up a blueprint to establish a public complex cultural and welfare center on the site to allow citizens to use cultural, sports, and welfare facilities, and is currently researching ways to improve the project's economic feasibility. Regarding this site, my colleagues in public service and I are doing our best to ensure that there are no more instances of giving citizens false hopes, so I ask citizens to wait a bit longer."

The mayor also emphasized that the city is smoothly proceeding with plans to expand transportation networks including the Gyeonggi South Metropolitan Railway, the Shinbong-Dongbaek Line, and the Yongseo Expressway to enhance citizen mobility.

The mayor said, "We are working to reflect the 'Gyeonggi South Metropolitan Railway New Construction Plan,' a project identified in the 8th civilian administration, in the '5th National Railroad Network Construction Plan' to establish a railway line connecting from Seoul Olympic Stadium through Shinbong and Seongbok districts in Suji-gu to Bongdam in Hwaseong. If this plan is promoted well, the 'Shinbong-Dongbaek Line' connecting Shinbong-dong through Seongbok-dong to Dongbaek and the 'Eonnam-Dongcheon Line' connecting from Eonnam-dong through Mabuk and Jukjeon to Dongcheon-dong will have increased economic feasibility, so I expect that citizens' transportation convenience will improve further."

The mayor stated, "The Yongseo Expressway project from Seosuwon IC to Geumto is being constructed as an underground expressway and is progressing well. Since Yongin is well promoting a mega-scale semiconductor project, I believe the possibility of the railroad and road construction plans underway throughout the city is high. Construction of roads and railroads requires significant costs and lengthy timeframes, so there is still a long way to go, but I hope citizens will lend their support."

On this day, the mayor presented Yongin Mayor Awards to three individuals, including Lee Gi-gon, branch chair of the Seongbok-dong Senior Citizens Association, in recognition of their contributions to community development.

At the residents harmony event held on this day, many citizens participated in enjoyable athletic events such as flipping colored boards and shoe archery, responded enthusiastically to singing classes and percussion performances by residents' autonomous center members, and spent a pleasant time.

At the event venue, diverse attractions were prepared including a carbon-neutral experience booth by the Suji Environment Center and a Suji acupuncture experience booth by the residents' autonomous committee, drawing citizens' attention.