Gyeongnam Governor Park Wansu: "The Solution to Local Extinction Crisis is Administrative Integration"

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, reiterated that administrative integration with Busan is a solution to the single-pole system of the Seoul metropolitan area and the crisis of local extinction.

Governor Park made this claim at the 2023 Korea Regional Grand Forum held at BEXCO in Busan on the 7th, presenting development strategies for Gyeongnam, Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam in response to the era of local autonomy.

In his keynote presentation, he explained based on Gyeongnam's current situation and tasks to be pursued ▲adding value to core industries ▲finding new growth drivers ▲and fostering the tourism service industry.

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, is explaining the development strategies of Gyeongnam at the 2023 Korea Regional Grand Forum.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

He said, “Gyeongnam has recently laid the groundwork for a leap forward as various economic indicators have shown an upward trend, thanks to the boom in core industries such as defense, nuclear power, shipbuilding, and machinery,” adding, “However, to resolve the serious outflow of young people, it is necessary to promote diversification of the service industry along with a strategy to advance core industries.”

He pointed to the South Coast, Jirisan Mountain, and Nakdong River as new growth engines differentiated from the Seoul metropolitan area, arguing that industrialization should be promoted and developed through ▲South Coast tourism development ▲installation of a cable car in Jirisan ▲and cultural tourism resource development in the Nakdong River area.

Governor Park said, “Diversification of industries through fostering tourism services such as cultural tourism and content should also be adopted as a future development strategy.”

To respond to the outflow of young population, he also emphasized the need to establish a global convergence and complex content industry town that includes ▲activation of content industries that attract young people ▲job creation ▲and improvement of residential conditions.

He then proposed three specific methods to implement tasks according to Gyeongnam’s future development strategy: ▲investment and corporate attraction ▲startup activation ▲local talent development ▲and deregulation of local regulations.

He mentioned achieving the largest-ever investment attraction through the establishment of the Gyeongnam Investment Agency and pursuing strategic and aggressive investment attraction, as well as revitalizing startups centered on three major startup hubs in the province.

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, is explaining the development strategy of Gyeongnam at the 2023 Korea Regional Grand Forum.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

Governor Park emphasized, “Startup activation in the region is important for Gyeongnam’s economic leap,” particularly highlighting industrial diversification through this.

He said that difficulties in securing manpower by region due to intensified population decline would be resolved by nurturing region-specific talent, and that Gyeongnam, specialized in manufacturing, plans to systematically support the development of professional and skilled workers tailored to the characteristics of the industry.

He stated that to ensure a solid promotion of the era of local autonomy, where regional competitiveness connects to national competitiveness, regulations that act as obstacles to various development projects must be eased.

As a solution to strengthen global tourism competitiveness, he proposed easing island development regulations, enacting the South Coast Tourism Promotion Special Act, and practically delegating the authority to lift development restriction zones to local governments.

While explaining the current status of the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) region, Governor Park presented strategies for the future of Bu-Ul-Gyeong, including discovering cooperative projects for the Bu-Ul-Gyeong Economic Alliance, which is currently operated as a small organization, improving government systems for local decentralization, and expanding government support.

He said that it is necessary to create synergy effects through ultra-wide-area cooperation by specializing the core industries of each Bu-Ul-Gyeong region for functional division and expanding the metropolitan transportation network, currently concentrated in the eastern Bu-Ul-Gyeong area, to the western area.

Governor Park, who has emphasized the need for administrative integration to respond to the single-pole system of the Seoul metropolitan area amid the crisis of local extinction, again cited administrative integration as a measure to ease concentration in the metropolitan area and realize economic development.

He stressed, “Administrative integration is a bipolarization strategy to respond to the single-pole system of the Seoul metropolitan area,” adding, “For this, administrative integration between Busan and Gyeongnam must be promoted.”

In response to a question during the Q&A session about the progress of the South Coast tourism belt project, he said, “Currently, it is a project involving the central government along with Busan and Jeonnam, and a new vision is being established,” adding, “The key to the success of this project is investment attraction and deregulation, and an international tourism investment attraction briefing session is being planned for this purpose.”

The 2023 Korea Regional Grand Forum is scheduled to be broadcast for one hour from 5:50 p.m. on the 8th through KNN and UBC channels.

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