[June 3 Election] Min Hyungbae Launches Policy Think Tank "Growth and Balance" with 500 Experts Participating

Composed of 26 Subcommittees Including AI, Energy, and Semiconductors
Policy Development for the Integrated Special City Begins
Kim Junha of GIST and Joo Jeongmin of Jeonnam University Serve as Co-chairs and Begin Their Activities

Min Hyungbae, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for the integrated special mayor of Jeonnam and Gwangju, has launched a policy think tank called "Growth and Balance," which brings together experts from academia, industry, and civil society. This think tank will be responsible for designing the industrial, administrative, and welfare models for the integrated special city of Jeonnam and Gwangju.

On May 12, Min Hyungbae's "Jeonnam-Gwangju Grand Transformation" campaign committee announced, "The private sector-led policy platform 'Growth and Balance,' with participation from over 500 experts, officially began its activities on May 10, coinciding with the launch of the campaign committee."

"Growth and Balance" includes participants from academia, research institutes, industry, public institutions, and civil society. The organization is divided into 26 subcommittees, each dedicated to policy development in areas such as AI, energy, semiconductors, basic society, and balanced development.

Min Hyungbae, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for the special integrated mayor of Jeonnam and Gwangju, is speaking at the opening ceremony of the election office in Seo-gu, Gwangju, on the afternoon of the 10th. Photo by Yonhap News

The co-chairs are Kim Junha, Dean of the AI Policy Strategy Graduate School at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), and Joo Jeongmin, Dean of the Graduate School at Jeonnam University. According to the campaign committee, the two have spent the past year working with Min on "policy Sunday study sessions" to discuss the vision and policy direction for the integrated special city.

Policy development will be based on the five principles presented by Min: growth integration, balanced integration, citizen sovereignty, green city, and basic income. The plan is to concretize industrial, administrative, and welfare models around these core ideas.

Each subcommittee will include experts in fields such as AI and data, climate and energy, robotics and manufacturing AX, as well as semiconductors and materials, parts, and equipment.

Co-chair Joo Jeongmin stated, "This is not a performative organization, but a practical think tank that will actually create policy," adding, "We expect this to be a new policy experiment that will deliver tangible results in a short period of time."

"Growth and Balance" plans to operate a "21-day Policy Build Sprint" system for the three weeks leading up to the election, during which policy design and citizen review will take place. Through this process, the team aims to prepare a "100-Day Action Plan" and a policy white paper that can be implemented immediately after the launch of the integrated special city.

Co-chair Kim Junha commented, "The integration of Jeonnam and Gwangju is not just an administrative merger, but a process of newly designing the future industrial structure of southern Korea. We will craft actionable policies that can achieve both growth and balance."

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