[Exclusive] Yoon Administration to Promote Regional Balanced Development Special Committee to Deputy Prime Minister Level

Discussion on Strengthening the Committee in a Closed Meeting
Some Members Also Raised the Proposal to Establish the National Balanced Development Institute for Ministry Coordination

Kim Byung-joon, Chairman of the Special Committee on Regional Balanced Development of the 20th Presidential Transition Committee, is giving an opening remark at the meeting of the Special Committee on Regional Balanced Development held on the 28th at the Transition Committee office in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Transition Committee Press Corps

The Special Committee on Regional Balanced Development under the Presidential Transition Committee is expected to be elevated to a vice prime minister-level organization in the next government. This reflects President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's special interest in national balanced development and the judgment that previous governments' efforts in regional balanced development have had little effect, leading to the intention to make it a practical policy execution body.

According to statements from transition committee officials on the 29th, some members expressed this opinion during a closed meeting of the Special Committee on Regional Balanced Development held the previous afternoon, and it was reported that the discussion was persuasive. President-elect Yoon has stated that he will continue to maintain the Special Committee on Regional Balanced Development after his inauguration, and the opinion that the committee should be given substantial authority was strongly raised at this meeting.

A senior official of the Special Committee on Regional Balanced Development told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "There was an opinion that, since efforts for balanced development over the past 20 years have not yielded visible results, the committee should be elevated to a vice prime minister-level organization," adding, "This will be further specified and discussed again." Since balanced development requires coordination with various ministries regarding budgets and policies, there is a need to elevate the committee to a higher-level vice prime minister organization. It is known that the member in charge of this area is preparing detailed plans for the organizational reform. During the Balanced Development Committee meeting, several proposals were raised regarding the elevation to vice prime minister level, including the establishment of an administrative committee and the creation of a National Balanced Development Agency.

Currently, the chairperson of the National Balanced Development Committee holds a ministerial-level position. If the chairperson of the Regional Balanced Development Committee is elevated to vice prime minister level, they will have considerable authority in planning and execution functions, including budget management and overall coordination of related central administrative agencies.

In the current government, the National Balanced Development Committee and the Autonomy and Decentralization Committee are presidentially affiliated bodies that deliberate and decide on major policies related to balanced development. However, due to their advisory nature, they lack enforceability, resulting in weak execution power, which has been consistently criticized. During the Autonomy and Decentralization Committee's work report, there were criticisms that the lack of substantial authority led to poor performance. Therefore, there is growing consensus that the committee's authority must be improved first to enable the implementation of local autonomy policies emphasized by President-elect Yoon.