Daegu and Gyeongbuk Launch Joint Task Force to Promote Super-Regional SOC Cooperation

Daegu City (acting mayor Kim Jeonggi) and Gyeongbuk Province (governor Lee Cheolwoo) have formed the "Daegu-Gyeongbuk Joint Cooperation Task Force (T/F)" to respond quickly and proactively to the government's Five Major Regions and Three Special Zones National Balanced Growth Strategy, as new national policy agendas are being established and regional pledges are becoming key issues. The task force officially began operations on August 13, 2025.

The Government Policy Planning Committee is scheduled to announce the five-year national policy plan and present the overall direction for national administration at a public briefing later this afternoon. In addition, the government has determined that the previous growth strategy, centered solely on the Seoul metropolitan area, can no longer drive national development. Therefore, it will rapidly implement the Five Major Regions and Three Special Zones National Balanced Growth Strategy, led by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Committee for the Era of Local Autonomy.

Executives from Daegu City and Gyeongbuk Province are taking a commemorative photo after forming the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Joint Cooperation Task Force.

The "Daegu-Gyeongbuk Joint Cooperation T/F" is an administrative cooperation body established to systematically discuss joint issues between the two regions and to develop strategic response measures. Oh Junhyeok, Director General for Planning and Coordination of Daegu City, and Kim Hojin, Director General for Planning and Coordination of Gyeongbuk Province, will serve as co-heads of the task force. In addition, the Daegu Policy Research Institute and the Gyeongbuk Research Institute will jointly support strategy formulation and research, ensuring that working-level consultations and policy research are organically connected.

Through this initiative, Daegu City and Gyeongbuk Province aim to lay the foundation for long-term development, including overcoming the risk of regional extinction and responding to the dominance of the Seoul metropolitan area.

At the meeting held on this day, core collaboration tasks were selected as priority discussion items, focusing on key regional development issues such as super-regional SOC (social overhead capital), future strategic industries, cultural and tourism development, and social and environmental sectors. The selected tasks will be further refined through consultations between the two local governments, and the methods and detailed directions for cooperation will be determined accordingly.

The super-regional SOC sector includes projects such as the new airport, the Daegu-Gyeongbuk circular railway network, and Yeongilman Port. The future strategic industries sector covers future mobility, AI robots, secondary batteries, and bio industries. The cultural and tourism development sector includes post-APEC initiatives and the super-regional tourism grid project. The social and environmental sector includes talent development and carbon neutrality initiatives.

Starting with this T/F, Daegu City and Gyeongbuk Province plan to expand and reorganize the existing public-private cooperative governance body, the Hanppuri Win-Win Committee, and to strengthen the foundation for collaboration by building broader networks with representatives of local residents and expert groups in each sector. In addition, the T/F meetings will be held on a regular basis to facilitate prompt consultations and project implementation for each issue, and, if necessary, separate consultative bodies will be established to continuously broaden the scope of cooperation.

Oh Junhyeok, Director General for Planning and Coordination of Daegu City, stated, "We are living in an era where the success of local regions directly leads to national growth," and added, "We will identify collaborative projects that allow Daegu and Gyeongbuk to grow together, and we expect that the outcomes will serve as a catalyst for the success of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region."

Kim Hojin, Director General for Planning and Coordination of Gyeongbuk Province, emphasized, "Based on the Daegu-Gyeongbuk joint cooperation system, both regions will work more closely together to address local issues," and added, "It is most important that Daegu-Gyeongbuk's major policies and projects are promoted as key policies of the new government, thereby leading the national balanced growth strategy."

The "Daegu-Gyeongbuk Joint Cooperation T/F" will closely analyze the national administration plans announced by the Policy Planning Committee on the same day and will promptly develop joint response strategies accordingly, while also pursuing consultations and measures for follow-up implementation.