How Did Korea Development Bank Become the Southeast Region Investment Corporation... Busan Mayor Park Hyungjun Protests, "Are You Just Telling Us to Take a Handout?"

"How did Korea Development Bank suddenly turn into the Southeast Region Investment Corporation?"

On September 17, Park Hyungjun, Mayor of Busan, strongly objected to the Lee Jaemyung administration's plan to scrap the relocation of Korea Development Bank to Busan and instead establish the Southeast Region Investment Corporation, saying, "Are you just telling us to take a small handout and be quiet?"

He sharply criticized the Lee Jaemyung administration's push for the Southeast Region Investment Corporation as "a blatant breach of a presidential campaign promise."

In a post on his social media account that day, Mayor Park stated, "The government's decision to cancel the relocation of Korea Development Bank to Busan and to establish an investment corporation-not even an investment bank-instead, is an act of disregarding the hopes of Busan citizens," adding, "It is a sugar-coated decision that ignores fundamental solutions for regional development."

He further emphasized, "The relocation of Korea Development Bank to Busan is rooted in former President Roh Moo-hyun's policy of relocating public institutions for balanced regional development. It was a policy promoted by the Democratic Party, and had the party leadership not turned away for political reasons, it would have already been realized."

Mayor Park said, "During his candidacy, President Lee pledged to establish the Southeast Investment Bank instead of relocating Korea Development Bank, but at yesterday's cabinet meeting, he decided to set up the Southeast Region Investment Corporation. This is clearly a breach of his presidential campaign promise and an act of disrespect toward Busan citizens."

He continued, "The investment corporation model, as seen in the past case of Korea Policy Finance Corporation, is already a proven failure. Although the government claims it chose the investment corporation model for rapid funding, there are numerous problems with this approach," he argued point by point.

He explained, "The Southeast Investment Corporation cannot compare to Korea Development Bank in terms of funding scale and flexibility. Its focus on indirect financing-such as equity investment, bond issuance, and fund creation-restricts the provision of policy funds and clearly limits the attraction of private capital."

He also cited additional issues, including overlapping functions with existing financial institutions, the risk of high-risk and insolvent investments due to supervision centered on the main government ministry, and poor accessibility for local companies due to profit-oriented investments.

Mayor Park questioned, "I don't understand why the government insists on a model that is highly likely to fail, given the failure of the Korea Policy Finance Corporation. I have repeatedly emphasized that if Korea Development Bank is not relocated, an investment bank with an equivalent role should be established. I cannot accept the government's decision."

He reiterated, "The investment corporation should only serve as a supplementary measure alongside the relocation of Korea Development Bank," once again calling for the relocation.

Previously, on September 16, President Lee Jaemyung agreed with Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Jeon Jae-soo's explanation at a cabinet meeting held at the Sejong Government Complex that the government would establish the Southeast Region Investment Corporation instead of the Southeast Region Investment Bank.

Social media post by Park Hyungjun, Mayor of Busan.

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