[브레이크뉴스 경기북부=김완영 기자] 경기도 의정부·양주·동두천의 통합을 열망하는 시민들의 뜨거운 의지가 담은 의·양·동 통합 범시민연대(상임대표 김성수)는 4일 오전 10시 30분, 양주섬유종합지원센터 컨벤션홀에서 발기인 대회를 성황리에 개최하고 본격적인 행보에 나섰다.
이날 발기인 대회는 의정부, 양주, 동두천을 대표하는 100인의 발기인과 통합을 지지하는 시민 약 200여 명 등 약 300여 명이 참석했다.
먼저, 이 대회의 김성수 상임대표(전 18대 국회의원)는 개회사를 통해 “의·양·동은 수백 년을 함께 살아온 하나의 생활공동체이다. 오늘 이 자리는 어느 한 사람의 결단이 아닌 세 도시 시민 모두의 의지가 모인 소중한 첫걸음이다”라며 통합의 의미를 부여했다.
특히 송인호 공동대표는 “과거 고려시대 수도 개경에 버금가는 ‘삼경’ 중 하나였던 양주의 위상이 일제강점기 분절의 아픔을 겪으며 조각났다. 이웃 대도시는 각자도생의 결과 비상할 때 우리는 제자리걸음을 했다”라고 호소했다.
이어진 홍정덕 교수는 ‘의정부·양주·동두천 통합의 역사적 당위성과 미래 비전’이라는 주제로 세 도시가 왜 하나여야 하는지를 학술적으로 명쾌하게 특별 강연했다.
홍 교수는 “선사 시대 아슐리안 주먹도끼 문화부터 백제 온조왕의 건국 설화, 조선 시대 양주목의 위상에 이르기까지 의·양·동은 수천 년간 정체성을 공유해 온 역사 공동체”임을 강조했다.
특히 이번 통합 운동은 단순한 행정 구역의 결합이 아니라, 흩어졌던 역사적 공동체를 다시 세우는 ‘회복’의 과정이라며 천년 양주의 정통성을 계승한 통합만이 경기북부의 중심이 될 수 있는 유일한 대안임을 제시했다.
마지막으로 85만 시민의 염원을 담은 3개 시 발기인들이 무대에 올라 낭독한 취지문을 통해 “우리는 본래 한 줄기 산맥과 물길을 나누며 살아온 운명 공동체”임을 선언하고, 나뉘어 있었기에 목소리는 작았고 비효율은 반복되었다. 이제 정체와 쇠퇴의 굴레를 시민 스스로 끊어내야 한다”고 강조했다.
통합의 핵심은 ▲통합시를 통한 경기북부 거점도시 도약 ▲세 도시 모두의 상생과 공동 번영 ▲주민 주도의 민주적 통합 추진 등 결의 ▲인구 100만 규모의 특례시 성장을 향한 간절한 염원을 구호 제창과 함께 외쳤다.
한편 의·양·동 통합 범시민연대를 시민사회 전반으로 확산시키기 위해 오는 4월 25일(토) 오후 2시, 양주별산대놀이마당에서 의·양·동 통합 시민토론회(주제 : 경기북부의 중심 의·양·동 통합시의 미래를 묻다)를 개최할 예정이다.
The Integration of Uijeongbu, Yangju, and Dongducheon in Gyeonggi Province is the Path Toward Becoming a Special Status City Centered on Northern Gyeonggi
Standing Representative Kim Seong-su: “Integration is a historical inevitability and the only path to leaping toward becoming a Special Status City.” Professor Hong Jeong-deok academically presents the legitimacy of integration through the restoration of historical community.
[Break News Northern Gyeonggi = Reporter Kim Wan-young] The Pan-Citizens' Alliance for the Integration of Uijeongbu, Yangju, and Dongducheon (Standing Representative Kim Seong-su), embodying the fervent will of citizens yearning for the integration of Uijeongbu, Yangju, and Dongducheon in Gyeonggi Province, successfully held its inaugural meeting at 10:30 a.m. on the 4th at the Convention Hall of the Yangju Textile Support Center and has embarked on its full-scale activities.
Approximately 300 people attended the inaugural meeting, including 100 inaugural representatives from Uijeongbu, Yangju, and Dongducheon, as well as about 200 citizens supporting the integration. First, Kim Seong-su, the Standing Representative of the conference (and former member of the 18th National Assembly), emphasized the significance of the integration in his opening remarks, stating, “Uijeongbu, Yangju, and Dongducheon are a single living community that has coexisted for hundreds of years. This gathering today is a precious first step, born not from the decision of a single individual, but from the collective will of the citizens of all three cities.”
In their congratulatory speeches, Lee Jong-seol, Co-representative of Uijeongbu City, and Song In-ho, Co-representative of Yangju City (and Chairman of the Yangju Social Organizations Council), emphasized the necessity of integration with one voice.
In particular, Co-representative Song In-ho appealed, “The status of Yangju, which was once one of the ‘Three Capitals’ comparable to Gaegyeong during the Goryeo Dynasty, was shattered by the pain of fragmentation during the Japanese colonial period. While neighboring major cities soared as a result of their individual survival, we remained stagnant.”
Following this, Professor Hong Jeong-deok delivered a special lecture on the topic of “The Historical Necessity and Future Vision of the Integration of Uijeongbu, Yangju, and Dongducheon,” providing a clear and academic explanation of why the three cities must become one.
Professor Hong emphasized that "Ui, Yang, and Dong are a historical community that has shared an identity for thousands of years, spanning from the prehistoric Acheulean hand axe culture to the founding myth of King Onjo of Baekje and the status of Yangju-mok during the Joseon Dynasty."
In particular, he stated that this integration movement is not merely a combination of administrative districts, but a process of "restoration" to re-establish a scattered historical community. He presented that only an integration inheriting the legitimacy of a thousand-year-old Yangju can serve as the sole alternative to become the center of Northern Gyeonggi.
Finally, the initiators from the three cities, embodying the aspirations of 850,000 citizens, took the stage to read a statement of purpose declaring, "We are a community of destiny that has originally lived sharing a single mountain range and waterway." They noted that because they were divided, their voices were quiet and inefficiencies were repeated. “Citizens themselves must now break the shackles of stagnation and decline,” he emphasized.
Along with the chanting of slogans, they shouted out the core of the integration: resolutions to leap forward as a hub city in Northern Gyeonggi through the integrated city, mutual growth and joint prosperity for all three cities, and the promotion of resident-led democratic integration, as well as the earnest desire for growth into a special status city with a population of 1 million.
Meanwhile, to expand the pan-citizen coalition for the integration of Ui-Yang-Dong to civil society as a whole, a citizen forum on the integration of Ui-Yang-Dong (Topic: Asking about the future of the integrated city of Ui-Yang-Dong, the center of Northern Gyeonggi) is scheduled to be held at the Yangju Byeolsandae Playground on Saturday, April 25, at 2:00 PM.
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