Gimpo, a Gyeonggi Province city approaching a population of 500,000, will get its first university hospital.
Gimpo City announced on the 4th that it signed a "Land Provision Agreement for Inha University Gimpo Medical Campus Development" with Gimpo Urban Corporation, Pungmu Station Area Development Co., Jeongseok Inha Education Foundation, Inha University, and Inha University Hospital.
The core of this agreement is the normalization of construction cost-sharing terms. The memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed during the previous mayor's tenure officially specified only 10 billion won in support. However, a business plan submitted by Inha University in November 2022, after Mayor Kim Byung-soo took office, demanded 50% of construction costs.
Based on estimates at that time, Gimpo City would bear half of the total construction cost of 160 billion won. Considering current increases in material and labor costs, this figure is estimated to reach 800 billion won. Under the original MOA terms, Gimpo City would have had to pay 400 billion won.
In response, Gimpo City declared its official position at a working-level council meeting in March 2024: "Additional support beyond free land provision and 100 billion won in construction costs is not possible." After approximately 20 rounds of negotiations, Inha University accepted these terms at a representative council meeting in November last year.
Despite being a major city with a population exceeding 500,000, Gimpo has lacked critical care and emergency medical infrastructure, resulting in patients being continuously transferred to other regions.
Under this agreement, a graduate school will open in 2028, followed by a 500-bed general hospital in 2031. The plan calls for completing a 700-bed system by 2038. The city expects outcomes including operation of specialized centers for serious diseases, strengthening of emergency medical systems, provision of medical services across all life stages, and formation of an industry-academia-research cluster.
Mayor Kim Byung-soo stated, "We normalized a flawed agreement and put an opaque project back on track. We will spare no administrative support to ensure citizens can enjoy high-quality medical infrastructure."
A local political source said, "The Seoul Metro Line 5 extension to Gimpo has also been put on track, and medical welfare is going through normalization procedures. Various achievements are surfacing one by one."