Military Base Relocation Gains Momentum as Daegu Metropolitan City Submits Consultation Request to Ministry of National Defense

【Financial News Daegu=Reporter Jang-wook Kim】The relocation project for five military units in downtown Daegu is gaining momentum.
Daegu Metropolitan City submitted a “Request for Consultation on the Relocation of Military Facilities” to the Ministry of National Defense on the 16th for the integrated relocation of military units in downtown Daegu to Gunwi County.
The submission is significant because it presents the relocation concept developed through previous reviews as a concrete plan and marks the launch of the official administrative process for relocating the military units.
Mayor Choo Kyung-ho emphasized, “The military base relocation project is a balanced-development initiative that will provide Gunwi County with a new foundation for settlement and invigorate the local economy. It will also transform the former military sites—valuable strategic assets—into vibrant spaces, thereby enhancing Daegu’s urban competitiveness.”
He added, “Through this submission, we will convert the results of approximately four years of consultations with the Ministry of National Defense into an official administrative process. Under clear goals and a defined schedule, we will quickly coordinate key issues with the ministry and other relevant agencies to increase the project’s pace and execution capacity.”
The request includes relocation plans for five units—the Army Second Operational Command, 5th Logistics Support Command, 50th Infantry Division Headquarters, Air Force Air Defense Artillery School, and 1st Missile Defense Brigade—as well as development plans for the former military sites.
The relocation plan calls for an 8.2-square-kilometer (2.48 million pyeong) military town, or military base, to be built in Ubo-myeon, Gunwi County, and a 0.07-square-kilometer (20,000 pyeong) civil-military coexistence town centered on military housing in Gunwi-eup. Based on a plan to build replacement facilities reflecting the scale of the facilities currently occupied by the military units, the value of the contributed property was estimated at approximately 3 trillion won.
To ensure swift procedures and administrative continuity, the value of the transferred property was estimated at approximately 3 trillion won based on the former-site development concept prepared last year, which focuses on medical, financial, educational, and industrial functions.
The values of the contributed and transferred property are estimates based on the current plan. The city will specify the scale of the contributed facilities by reflecting the basic facility requirements to be presented by the Ministry of National Defense, while supplementing the former-site development plan in consideration of changing project conditions.
Meanwhile, Daegu Metropolitan City plans to work closely with the Ministry of National Defense to sign a memorandum of agreement by the end of 2027.
If the memorandum of agreement and subsequent procedures proceed smoothly, the city aims to begin construction of the replacement facilities in 2028, complete the relocation of the military units in 2031, and finish developing the former military sites in 2033.
[email protected] Jang-wook Kim Reporter