The Bank of Korea Holds Joint Symposium with Seoul National University National Future Strategy Institute

Held at Seoul National University on the 27th
Addressing structural reform issues such as regional balanced development and education policy
Closing remarks by Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea

On the 27th, the Bank of Korea announced that it will hold a joint symposium with the Seoul National University Institute for National Future Strategies on the theme of "Paradigm Shift in Regional Balanced Development Policy and Education Policy - Focusing on Administrative System and College Entrance System Reform."

The symposium will be held at the Woosuk Economics Hall of Seoul National University to discuss regional balanced development policies and education policies. In Session 1, research results on administrative system reform measures for balanced development centered on hub cities will be presented, and in Session 2, research findings on social problems caused by overheated college entrance competition and countermeasures will be shared by researchers from Seoul National University and the Bank of Korea. The event will consist of an opening address and keynote speech by Kim Jun-ki, head of the Seoul National University Institute for National Future Strategies, presentations and discussions in each session, and a closing address by Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea.

In the keynote presentation, Jeong Min-su, head of the Regional Research Support Team at the Bank of Korea’s Research Department, will point out the negative effects of the concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area and the limitations of past regional balanced development policies. He will then argue that concentrated investment in a few hub cities brings greater results to the entire country.

In the first session, Professors Ko Gil-gon and Lee Jin-su of the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University will present administrative system reform measures for balanced development centered on hub cities. They will note that although legislation related to balanced development has achieved the goal of supporting underdeveloped areas, it has acted as reverse discrimination against large local cities such as metropolitan cities, thus falling short in alleviating population concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area. They will also argue that policies such as forced relocation of public institutions and innovation cities have not achieved the expected effects. They will emphasize that future balanced development strategies should strengthen residential conditions in metropolitan cities and promote positive ripple effects centered on these cities.

In the second session, Lee Dong-won, head of the Micro-Institution Research Office at the Bank of Korea Economic Research Institute, will address social problems caused by overheated college entrance competition and countermeasures. He will explain that overheated competition has led to increased private education expenses, population concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area, low birth rates, and late marriages, and propose a "regional proportional selection system." The regional proportional selection system is expected to alleviate the phenomenon of "lost talents" and expand diversity within universities, thereby mitigating social problems caused by overheated college entrance competition.

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