President Moon: "Choosing Gangwon Railway Schedule Aims to Emphasize National Balanced Development"

Park Suhyun, Blue House Chief of Public Communication, Explains Reason for Calling Communication Chief and Spokesperson: 'Stories About the President Not in the Briefing'

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] Regarding President Moon Jae-in's visit to Jejin Station in Goseong-gun, Gangwon Province as his first on-site schedule of the new year, Park Soo-hyun, Blue House Chief of Public Communication, conveyed on the 9th that "the reason I chose the groundbreaking schedule of the Gangwon-do railway as the first on-site schedule of the new year was to emphasize national balanced development for underdeveloped areas."

Chief Park conveyed President Moon's will for national balanced development through 'Stories of the President Not in the Briefing' posted on Facebook that day. The reason President Moon called Chief Park and spokesperson Park Kyung-mi is said to be related to national balanced development.

In fact, President Moon told Chief Park, "Tomorrow (the 5th), I will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Gangwon Northern Line between Gangneung and Jejin, and I am curious about how the media will report it. I hope the media will also pay attention to the significance of revitalizing the tourism industry and the economic railway extending to Eurasia."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding this, Chief Park explained, "On the day of the groundbreaking ceremony, coinciding with North Korea's missile launch, there were not many articles emphasizing national balanced development as much as the president wished. However, it is a small anecdote that sufficiently confirms the president's will for national balanced development."

Chief Park said about President Moon's attendance at the 'Opening Ceremony of Four Railways in the Southeast Region' on December 28 last year, "Although it was a grand journey for national balanced development, the media and political circles treated it as just one of the regional SOC projects. It is truly regrettable that the cause of national balanced development did not shine because there were suspicions that the president was blatantly interfering in the election ahead of the presidential election."

Regarding criticism that the Moon Jae-in administration's national balanced development policy is not visible, Chief Park said, "This is because people do not well understand that the Moon Jae-in administration's balanced development policy is a greatly expanded concept compared to previous ones," and explained, "The Moon Jae-in administration's national balanced development is developing in a direction led by regions and is summarized as 'super-regional cooperation.'"

Chief Park emphasized the significance of railway network connection, saying, "For super-regional cooperation, forming a transportation network connecting major hubs within the region is most important."

Chief Park said, "The Moon Jae-in administration's national balanced development policy has been promoted and grown so extensively as to be breathless. However, the concentration in the metropolitan area has not yet improved. Therefore, national balanced development where the metropolitan area and local areas coexist is a task that cannot be missed until the end of the term."

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