Chungcheong Region Joins Forces for Co-Growth Including the Establishment of a 'Special Self-Governing Province'

On the 30th, the governors of four cities and provinces in the Chungcheong region met at Sejong City Hall to hold the "31st Chungcheong Regional Administrative Council." Photo by Daejeon City

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The four cities and provinces in the Chungcheong region?Daejeon, Sejong, Chungnam, and Chungbuk?are joining forces to create a framework for regional co-growth, including the establishment of the ‘Chungcheong Special Local Government.’

According to Daejeon City on the 29th, the four cities and provinces in the Chungcheong region held the ‘31st Chungcheong Administrative Council’ at Sejong City Hall, where they approved three agenda items: ▲Formation of a joint task force for the Chungcheong Special Local Government ▲Early implementation of the national railway network plan and construction of the Chungcheong east-west railway network ▲Establishment of an integrated transfer fare system for the Happy City area.

The council was attended by Lee Jang-woo, Mayor of Daejeon; Choi Min-ho, Mayor of Sejong; Kim Tae-heum, Governor of Chungnam; and Kim Young-hwan, Governor of Chungbuk.

At the meeting, the city and provincial governors received the final report on the ‘Operation and Establishment Plan for the Chungcheong Special Local Government,’ which has been jointly conducted since March. The study was carried out by the Korea Institute of Local Administration and concluded with policy research proposing the scope of administrative affairs, organizational structure, and financial securing plans for the Chungcheong local governments.

Based on the proposals, the four cities and provinces agreed to gradually apply the suggestions derived from the study and cooperate to ensure the Chungcheong Special Local Government operates effectively.

They also shared a mutual understanding that, similar to the cases of Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam and Daegu-Gyeongbuk, it is crucial to draft and proceed with procedures to establish a super-regional cooperative and symbiotic economic zone tailored to the Chungcheong region’s circumstances.

To this end, the four cities and provinces plan to form a temporary organization for the Chungcheong Special Local Government to share resources between regions and prevent duplicate project investments, thereby building a wide-area living economic zone.

The council also reached an opinion on the construction of the Chungcheong east-west railway network. The core is to jointly propose to the government to newly include the construction of the Chungcheong east-west connecting railway network in the ‘5th National Railway Network Construction Plan’ to ensure that national tasks and regional railway pledges are fulfilled within the term of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

The four cities and provinces expect that expanding the railway east-west across the current north-south-centered Chungcheong region will promote balanced regional development. They also emphasized that the construction of the Chungcheong east-west railway network is included in the seven major pledges and fifteen policy tasks for the Chungnam area announced before the current government’s inauguration in April.

The common agenda discussed at the council will be delivered to the central government, and the four cities and provinces plan to designate the common agenda as a Chungcheong joint cooperation task for focused management.

Lee Jang-woo, Mayor of Daejeon, said, “Super-regional cooperation and mega cities are key strategies necessary for a major transformation and leap forward in regional development,” adding, “The four cities and provinces of Chungcheong will unite to demonstrate leadership in integration and form a single economic and living zone sharing economy, transportation, culture, and welfare.”

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