"Feasible Balanced Development Strategies Needed
to Revitalize Local Areas"
On June 20, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it had reported this year's major pending issues and plans for implementing presidential pledges to the Economic Subcommittee 2 of the Presidential National Policy Planning Committee. The briefing, which began at 10:00 a.m. that day, was attended by key officials including Lee Choonseok, head of Economic Subcommittee 2, planning and expert committee members, and Moon Seongyo, Director General for Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
In the report, the ministry explained the following: the fostering of the '5-Guk 3-Teuk' (five major ultra-wide regions and three specialized regions); national balanced development strategies such as the creation of RE100 (100% renewable energy use) industrial complexes; housing supply; support measures for housing for young people, newlyweds, and the elderly; and plans to foster advanced strategic industries such as autonomous vehicles and urban air mobility (UAM). The ministry also reported on plans to strengthen safety management, including responses to ground subsidence, and to transition the land and transport industry to carbon neutrality.
The '5-Guk 3-Teuk' strategy is a plan to shift the nation's development framework, currently concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, to a multi-polar system. The President pledged to establish special local governments in the five major ultra-wide regions?Seoul Metropolitan Area, Southeast Region, Daegyeong Region, Central Region, and Honam Region?transferring a significant amount of authority and functions to them. In addition, the President promised to pursue amendments to special laws to strengthen self-governing authority and competitiveness in the three special self-governing provinces of Jeju, Gangwon, and Jeonbuk. The goal is to dismantle the single-pole system centered on Seoul and to distribute growth hubs across different regions.
A special local government is a type of local government formed jointly by two or more local governments to handle broad administrative tasks for a specific purpose. The government plans to revitalize the operation of these special local governments through legislative improvements and to lay the foundation for building an ultra-wide regional system by further transferring central government authority to them.
In response, the planning and expert committee members of the National Policy Planning Committee emphasized that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plays a key role in balanced development, housing stability, carbon neutrality in the building and transportation sectors, and the fostering of strategic industries such as autonomous vehicles. They asked the ministry to thoroughly prepare detailed implementation plans for the tasks reported that day.
Lee Choonseok, head of Economic Subcommittee 2, stated, "For Korea's true growth, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport must develop practical strategies as the lead agency for balanced development," adding, "We need feasible balanced development policies that can revive local areas that are marginalized and facing extinction."
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