Gwacheon residents protest racecourse relocation, housing plan

A large-scale vehicle protest erupted on March 30th as the Korean Horse Racing Association's labor union and Gwacheon citizens voiced strong opposition to the government's plan to relocate the Gwacheon Racecourse and develop the site for 9,800 new homes.

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The future of Gwacheon should not be decided without the consent of its residents.

Protesters, numbering around 200 and utilizing 100 cars and a forklift, drove slowly with hazard lights on from the racecourse towards Namtaeryeong, signaling their dissent. They held a press conference at Namtaeryeong, asserting that policies impacting citizens' lives and regional futures require thorough public opinion gathering and democratic procedures.

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Policies that determine the lives of the people and the future of the region must be pursued through sufficient opinion gathering and democratic procedures.

The "Emergency Committee for the Gwacheon Racecourse Relocation Opposition" specifically called for a complete reconsideration of the relocation and housing supply plan. They argued that the project, announced in January as part of an expansion of housing supply for young people and newlyweds, would worsen traffic conditions, harm the environment and green spaces, degrade educational opportunities, and strain the finances of Gwacheon city and Gyeonggi Province.

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The racecourse relocation and housing supply plan must be comprehensively reviewed.

The committee urged for objective and transparent verification of the plan's impacts on traffic, environment, education, and finance, and insisted that the project's feasibility should be decided only after sufficient resident consultation. A smaller group of 19 vehicles later proceeded to the Blue House to announce their statement, concluding the protest.

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The project should not be unilaterally pushed forward without sufficient consultation with Gwacheon citizens.