Moon visits new car factory in Gwangju

President Moon Jae-in attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday for a brand-new car factory in Gwangju, which is a core element of his liberal administration's so-called win-win job creation drive accelerated by a grand social compromise.

President Moon Jae-in speaks at an event for the Gwangju Global Motors (GGM), April 22. Yonhap

Gwangju Global Motors (GGM) facilities was completed in the city, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, under a 2019 deal among workers and employers as well as the private and public sectors. Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea's largest automobile manufacturer, has joined the project.

GGM is the first full-scale vehicle factory born in the nation in 23 years. The trial production of a light sports utility vehicle (SUV) is under way there for mass production starting in September. It will have the capacity to produce 70,000 cars a year.

"It represents the future of Gwangju and the Republic of Korea, having been created by a grand social compromise between Gwangju citizens, the local government, labor and management," Moon said in a speech during the event held at an industrial complex in Gwangju.

He noted that 385 workers have been hired, mostly those in their 20s and 30s living in Gwangju and the nearby province of South Jeolla, for full-time positions. GGM plans to increase the number of employees to over 900 in 2022.

They will work at the factory, with their wages maintained at "appropriate levels" and working conditions at the "best level," under the social compromise, according to the president.

Moon said the government, emboldened by the success in Gwangju, will provide proactive support for the expansion of such a job creation model.

"The government will develop it as another success strategy for our economy via various support," he added. (Yonhap)