Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok: "Next Government Must Make 'National Balanced Development' Its Top Policy Priority"

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam Province, asserted, "Since national balanced development is a matter of great national importance, the next government should make it the top policy agenda and strongly promote the establishment of a provisional Ministry of National Balanced Development at the deputy prime minister level as a dedicated ministry."

According to Jeonnam Province on the 2nd, Governor Kim stated at the September regular briefing, "Balanced development is the most important national agenda, but it has been repeatedly delayed because it is difficult."

He continued, "If more than 50% of all sectors of society, including the economy, are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, the regions cannot exert their strength," and diagnosed, "Unless a paradigm shift is made to achieve nationwide balanced development, it will inevitably remain unbalanced development."

Governor Kim identified two core pillars of national balanced development: overcoming the crisis of regional extinction and regional development.

Regarding overcoming the crisis of regional extinction, he explained, "So far, we have made all-out efforts such as proposing the enactment of the 'Special Act on Support for Areas Facing Regional Extinction' in cooperation with Gyeongbuk Province and collaborating with the National Association of Mayors and County Heads of Rural Areas nationwide," adding, "As a result, we gained sympathy from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and especially the government decided to establish a 1 trillion won fund to respond to regional extinction, achieving progressive results."

He added, "Although the government is showing positive signals like this, it is still insufficient, so stronger response efforts through wide-area cooperation with Gyeongbuk, Jeonbuk, Gangwon, and others are necessary."

Regarding regional development, he said, "The South Coast Tourism Belt project, led by Jeonnam, aims to form a wide-area tourism zone centered on five southern regions including Gwangju, Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam, to open the era of South Coast tourism," and added, "Let us expand this cooperative system beyond tourism to the economic sector and promote it as a strong super-wide-area cooperation project to open a true era of balanced development."

He also said, "As COVID-19 prolongs and Chuseok approaches, many people are facing difficulties," urging, "When giving gifts to those in need, using products from women entrepreneurs, social economy enterprises, and Jeonnam agricultural and marine food products can be very helpful, so I ask not only public officials but also institutions and organizations in Jeonnam to participate in this effort."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.