Ex-presidential spokesperson looks to make Songdo more expat-friendly
Former deputy presidential spokesperson Kim Gi-heung / Courtesy of Kim Gi-heung
Kim Gi-heung, former deputy spokesperson for President Yoon Suk Yeol and former journalist for broadcaster KBS, is seeking to bring a future that will be more friendly to kids and expats in Songdo, a planned smart city built to house international businesses in Incheon’s Yeonsu District, by running in the April 10 general elections.
During a press conference at the National Assembly, Monday, Kim announced his election bid as the ruling People Power Party’s (PPP) preliminary candidate for Incheon's Yeonsu B constituency.
If he outpaces other PPP contenders in the region during the party’s candidate recommendation process, he will be chosen as the party’s candidate to challenge the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), currently represented by DPK Rep. Chung Il-young.
“Under the belief that justice and common sense should be rebuilt, I joined the journey of then-presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol,” Kim said. “The hope of the Republic of Korea should be rebuilt.”
Kim wrapped up his 19-year career as a journalist in June 2021 and joined Yoon’s election camp as one of his press secretaries, assisting Yoon, who has no background in politics, to help with media readiness. After Yoon took office on May 10, 2022, Kim served as deputy press secretary and was promoted to deputy spokesperson in August, just months before leaving the office to run in the general elections.
Kim Gi-heung speaks during a press briefing on his appointment as deputy presidential spokesperson at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Aug. 10, 2023. Newsis
In a written interview with The Korea Times, Kim said he decided to leave the presidential office with the same mindset that he had when joining Yoon’s election camp.
“I have been living in Songdo for over 10 years, and during this time I could witness the hope and expectations that people had for this town,” Kim said.
“However, the interests of Songdo and Yeonsu District residents are not being represented properly. To bring this region to what it could look like, I want to wind the clock back to 2021, when I, along with President Yoon, strived to restore what was ruined during the previous Moon Jae-in administration.”
Kim said one of the biggest problems that he sees in Songdo at the moment is the town’s poor connectivity with Seoul, unbefitting to its official title of Songdo International City.
“As an international city, Songdo boasts proximity to Incheon International Airport and Incheon Port, but significant challenges remain with its accessibility to Seoul and the convenience of its urban transportation network.”
Songdo residents have long been calling for the prompt construction of the GTX-B line, a high-speed commuter rail network that aims to connect Songdo, west of Seoul, and Namyangju, east of Seoul, via the capital.
After multiple delays, the railway project is set to break ground in the first half of this year, but Kim and other politicians are saying “it requires close monitoring” because of various complaints over the train’s proposed stops and the environmental impact of the construction.
“As a person who has been commuting between Songdo and Seoul for more than 10 years, I do see the necessity of increasing the number of buses, especially M6751 buses, which travel from Songdo to Yeouido and Gongduk,” Kim said, adding more double-decker buses are required to address the extreme surge of passenger numbers during peak traffic hours.
Kim also said forming an environment that is friendly to expatriates and boosting foreign investment are important tasks for Songdo.
“Foreign investment into Songdo has been sluggish for years,” Kim said. “In order to attract investors again and increase the number of expats, so that the town can be a truly international city, we have to build a freer and fairer environment.”
Kim stressed that the area has to create an environment where companies from “emerging industries can do business without obstacles” and administrational support is required to encourage the influx and stay of talented expats.
In line with those views, Kim proposed the idea that Songdo can be “the control tower of Korea’s immigration policies” by hosting the Korea Immigration Agency that the government is seeking to establish in the near future.
“In June, the government launched the headquarters of the Overseas Koreans Agency in Songdo, under the goal of addressing administrational complaints by overseas Koreans seamlessly as a pan-government control tower,” he said. “However, the administrational functions for expats are scattered across various government agencies.”
He said that addressing the matters relating to overseas Koreans and expats are streams of the country’s immigration policies, thus the proposed Korea Immigration Agency should be located in Songdo to create synergy between the agencies and Songdo’s infrastructure for foreign residents.
“When these agenda items can be addressed, Songdo’s identity as an international city will be strengthened, allowing more global businesses to make investments in the area,” Kim said. “If I can get the opportunity to represent these ideas, I will use my capabilities and human networks to realize this blueprint.”