President Lee Jae Myung holds town hall meeting in Gwangju City

President Lee Jae Myung made his way down to Gwangju City on Wednesday to take time to sit down with citizens there and hear what they had to say about pending issues in the region.

Our Presidential Office correspondent Song Yoo-jin has the details.

Communication has been one of the top priorities for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

As part of such efforts, he held a town hall meeting in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Wednesday.

Topping the items on the agenda was the long-stalled relocation of the Gwangju Air Base.

While the city seeks to move both the military air base and its civilian airport to Muan International Airport in the surrounding Jeollanam-do Province, the plan has faced strong opposition from the county, largely over concerns about noise and compensation.

The live televised discussion brought together key stakeholders: local government leaders of Gwangju, Jeollanam-do Province, and Muan-gun County, as well as residents directly affected by the issue, to share their opinions.

"You can't really hear the planes that much in Jinwol-dong."

President Lee then proposed a solution, based on what he pledged during his campaign trail, to directly mediate and resolve the conflict.

The discussion then turned to boosting the southwestern region, which is made up of Gwangju and the Jeolla-do provinces, for balanced development across the country.

Residents presented their ideas directly to the President, including more support for AI adoption and renewable energy infrastructure.

"It's not just about buying GPUs or building data centers. We need support for hospitals, factories, and local businesses to integrate AI into their operations and build the data pipelines to make that possible."

In the final portion of the meeting, participants raised a wide range of concerns, from reforming the law school admissions system, supporting small business owners and creating more jobs for young people.

Beyond the discussions, the President's visit to the region, traditionally a progressive stronghold, comes a week after he visited the conservative-leaning city of Ulsan, in an apparent message of unity.

Song Yoo-jin, Arirang News.