Korea Extends Gwangju-Songjeong Investment Zone Deadline to End of 2027

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has amended the designation of the 광주송정역 KTX지역경제거점형 투자선도지구 (Gwangju-Songjeong Station KTX regional economic hub investment promotion zone), shaving a little over 600 square metres off its boundary and pushing the completion date back by one year. The change was published on 29 October 2026 in 관보 (the Official Gazette of the Republic of Korea), No. 21350, as 국토교통부고시 제2026-573호, signed by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The same notice publishes the topographic map of the revised zone.

The amendment rests on Article 45 of the 지역개발 및 지원에 관한 법률 (Act on Regional Development and Support) and Article 53 of its enforcement decree, with the map issued under Article 8 of the 토지이용규제 기본법 (Framework Act on Land Use Regulation) and Article 7 of its enforcement decree. The zone was originally approved on 19 March 2021, the date the designation notice took effect.

The stated purpose is unchanged: to introduce housing, commercial, industrial, cultural and office functions around the KTX station, to renew the surrounding old downtown through linked urban regeneration, and to build a research and support base for the motor industry, the region’s strategic sector, so as to attract private capital and create jobs.

A smaller zone with a longer timetable

• Name: 광주송정역 KTX지역경제거점형 투자선도지구 (unchanged).
• Location: formerly 광주광역시 광산구 송정동, 장록동 and 송촌동; now the same neighbourhoods in 전남광주통합특별시 광산구.
• Area: 558,158㎡ before, 557,543.1㎡ after, a reduction of 614.9㎡.
• Implementation period: 19 March 2021 to 31 December 2026 before; 19 March 2021 to 31 December 2027 after.

The reduction comes entirely from the transfer car park owned by 한국철도공사 (Korail), which falls from 11,963㎡ to 11,348.1㎡ after the area occupied by the Sky-walk pedestrian bridge is excluded. The investment promotion zone proper is untouched at 546,195㎡, or 97.9 per cent of the total.

Land use, land acquisition and the builder

The developer remains 한국토지주택공사 (Korea Land and Housing Corporation, LH), which carries out the project by expropriation or use. The notice records one change of officer: the corporation’s representative moves from 이한준 to 이성훈.

• Housing land: 193,070㎡ (34.6 per cent), including 155,957㎡ of apartment land and 23,602㎡ of detached-house land.
• Commercial land: 73,810㎡ (13.2 per cent), including the OLD&NEW SQUARE block at 13,340㎡.
• Business land: 19,681㎡ (3.5 per cent).
• Industrial land: 30,665㎡ (5.5 per cent), for research and support facilities.
• Public facilities: 248,650㎡ (44.6 per cent), of which 149,804㎡ is roads and 30,466㎡ parks.
• Land to be expropriated or used: 1,323 parcels, up from 1,287, an increase of 36.

594.3 billion won and 12,432 jobs

Total project cost is put at 5,943억원 — 594.3 billion won — financed entirely by LH, with expected employment of 12,432: 1,755 during construction and 10,677 in operation. The notice also lists the transport links that underpin the site:

• Honam and Gyeongjeon lines serving KTX광주송정역; 광주지하철 1호선 stops at Gwangju-Songjeong and Dosan stations.
• Gwangju–Muan expressway, UnsU interchange about 2.5 km away; Honam expressway, Gwangsan interchange about 9.5 km away.
• National roads 22 and 13, both roughly 1.5 km to the north.
• An elevated pedestrian bridge, the Sky-walk, linking the station to the OLD&NEW SQUARE block.
• Water from the Deongnam treatment plant (440,000㎥ a day) via the Songjeong reservoir (20,000㎥ a day); sewage routed through the Hwangryong river interceptor to the Gwangju No. 2 treatment plant.

Fourteen days to inspect the file

The related documents are open to the public for 14 days from the date of publication at the 전남광주통합특별시 metropolitan transport division (062-613-5841) and the Gwangsan district urban planning division (062-960-8523). The topographic map can be consulted at 토지이음 (www.eum.go.kr).

The revision matters because the one-year extension removes the immediate pressure of a 2026 deadline from a site that is meant to anchor the south-western region’s rail-linked growth, and because the extra 36 parcels bring more landowners into an expropriation process whose terms are now fixed in the official record. The 2027 cut-off becomes the reference point against which residents, investors and the district office will measure the delivery of housing, business space and the promised 12,432 jobs.

Source: 관보 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Korea), No. 21350, 29 October 2026, notices (고시), p. 129 (official reference: 국토교통부고시 제2026-573호).