First Meeting Draws Attention at Official Event on Administrative Integration
Unanimous Agreement on 'Necessity' at Daegu-Gyeongbuk Society Academic Conference
Keynote Expert: "Time for Rebound through Regional Integration"
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongwook Park] Daegu City and Gyeongsangbuk-do have taken the first step toward discussions on regional administrative integration. Despite the issue being prone to regional selfish dogma, Gyeongsangbuk-do Governor Lee Cheol-woo and Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin both attended an academic conference at the private sector level, showing consensus on the necessity of a 'Mega City' and demonstrating a united front.
On the 3rd, the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Society (President Choi Cheol-young) held an academic conference discussing Daegu-Gyeongbuk administrative integration under the theme of 'Great Integration of Daegu-Gyeongbuk and National Balanced Development,' attended by Governor Lee Cheol-woo, Mayor Kwon Young-jin, National Assembly member Lee Dal-gon, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Research Institute Director Oh Chang-kyun, and Kyungpook National University Professor Ha Hye-su, among others.
The event drew significant attention as opinion leaders representing the economic, media, and academic sectors of both the city and province, along with administrative integration experts from Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and others, attended in large numbers, indicating that future private-sector discussions on administrative integration are likely to become more active.
Lee Dal-gon, a National Assembly member (Future United Party) who promoted the reorganization of city and county administrative systems during his tenure as Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in 2009, stated in his keynote speech, "Our country currently faces a situation requiring change due to local extinction, metropolitan area gigantism, decline of main industries, and long-term reduction in growth potential," diagnosing the situation and asserting, "In the case of Daegu-Gyeongbuk, it is time to attempt a leap forward through regional integration."
Regarding the strategic direction for Daegu-Gyeongbuk administrative integration, he argued, "By utilizing special measures in the status, functions, and management areas of the integrated region, the status of the administrative integration area should be secured, and the unique international infrastructure and industrial clusters of Daegu-Gyeongbuk should be leveraged to strengthen specialized competitiveness."
In the subsequent thematic presentation, Senior Research Fellow Na Joong-gyu of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Research Institute emphasized the necessity of Daegu-Gyeongbuk administrative integration through analysis of domestic and international regional integration cases such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and Jeju Island.
Professor Ha Hye-su of Kyungpook National University (Head of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Administrative Integration Research Group), who gave the second thematic presentation, stated, "The integration of metropolitan governments needs to be pursued from the perspective of groundbreaking local decentralization, enhancement of national competitiveness, and national balanced development," adding, "Above all, faithfully reflecting the will of residents is essential to guarantee the sustainability of administrative integration."
Governor Lee Cheol-woo expressed in his greeting, "The world is shifting from competition between nations to competition between cities and provinces, and the era demands becoming a mega city with economies of scale to compete globally," showing enthusiasm by saying, "We will gather the opinions of city and provincial residents and the wisdom of experts to create a new history of administrative integration."
Mayor Kwon Young-jin responded, "I share the same intention as Governor Lee Cheol-woo regarding the promotion of Daegu-Gyeongbuk administrative integration," and added, "We will go through a process of forming consensus with city and provincial residents to create a new success model for the Republic of Korea."
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