The site for the relocation of Gwangju Military Airport has been confirmed in Muan County, Jeollanam-do, where a semiconductor cluster is planned to be established.
On August 28, the Ministry of National Defense held the second selection committee meeting for the relocation site at its headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, and announced that the area of Mangun-myeon in Muan County has been designated as a candidate site for the Gwangju Military Airport relocation.
The ministry explained that the selection criteria for the candidate site met both institutional feasibility and social consensus.
Institutional feasibility was confirmed after reviewing the necessary permits and approvals related to Air Force operations and relevant laws, with no items deemed 'impossible' at this stage. Social consensus was achieved through the 'conditional agreement' of the Muan County mayor, the head of the local government.
With Muan selected as the candidate site, the relocation project for Gwangju Military Airport has entered a more active phase.
The government plans to use the selection of the candidate site as an opportunity to discuss specific support measures for the Muan area with relevant agencies. Initially, it aims to outline a support package worth '1 trillion won + α' for regional development and resident assistance in Muan County.
In addition to the 1 trillion won support agreed upon by six agencies, including Gwangju City, Jeollanam-do, Muan County, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, further national-level support measures will be developed. A support committee for the relocation project will be established, chaired by the Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, to determine the specifics and scale of the support initiatives.
The Ministry of National Defense stated, 'In accordance with the principle that special sacrifices should be met with special support, we will responsibly promote the support projects to ensure they lead to tangible results rather than remaining at a declarative level.'
Plans for supporting the surrounding areas of the relocation site will be developed, followed by a referendum among residents, after which the Muan County mayor will proceed with the application for the relocation. The final confirmation of the relocation site will follow.
The government aims to finalize the relocation site for Gwangju Military Airport by the end of this year and complete the Muan Military Airport by December 2032.
The area of Mangun-myeon in Muan County was selected as a preliminary candidate site for the relocation of Gwangju Military Airport in April. However, the selection committee's final decision was delayed as Muan County demanded the fulfillment of three preconditions: the priority relocation of Muan International Airport over Gwangju's civilian airport, a guarantee of 1 trillion won in support, and significant national-level incentives.
As the Gwangju Military Airport site was designated for the semiconductor cluster in the Honam region, calls for expediting the military airport's relocation have increased. President Lee Jae-myung also urged for the swift advancement of the military airport relocation issue during a Cabinet meeting.
The military authorities have decided to decentralize the functions of the Air Force's 1st Fighter Wing ahead of the relocation of Gwangju Military Airport to facilitate the early construction of the semiconductor cluster. The plan is to temporarily relocate the functions of the 1st Fighter Wing stationed at Gwangju Military Airport to the Air Force bases in Yecheon, Seosan, and Jungwon by mid-2028.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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