Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Lee vows to speed up decentralization with regional hubs, Sejong office
President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a Cabinet meeting held at Government Complex Sejong in Sejong City, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Anna J. Park
President underscores balanced national development as key to sustainable growth
In a signal of his commitment to decentralizing power, President Lee Jae Myung pledged to fast-track the construction of a presidential office and National Assembly building in the administrative city of Sejong.
Chairing his first Cabinet meeting there on Tuesday, he called balanced national development “not a matter of choice, but an essential task” for Korea's future.
Sejong, located 120 kilometers south of Seoul, was established in 2012 as a new administrative capital to address the severe overconcentration of power and population in Seoul.
“The greatest challenge for Korea today is sustainable growth, and the strongest foundation for that growth is balanced development,” Lee emphasized.
Lee reaffirmed his promise to advance the construction of the Sejong presidential office and Sejong Assembly building.
“I want to once again stress that creating a nation where all regions enjoy equal opportunities for development is the surest path to building a sustainable Republic of Korea,” the president said.
President Lee Jae Myung presides over a Cabinet meeting at Government Complex Sejong in Sejong City, Tuesday. Yonhap
He acknowledged that Korea’s past focus on concentrated investment in the Seoul metropolitan area once drove efficiency and rapid progress. However, he warned that the continued concentration of resources in the capital region has now become a constraint, leading to overcrowding in Seoul and the decline of regional areas.
“To ensure the nation’s sustainable development, balanced growth is no longer a choice but our destiny,” Lee emphasized.
The president also highlighted his administration’s “five pole, three special” strategy for regional development. The plan designates five major hubs — the Seoul metropolitan area (Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province), the North Gyeongsang area (Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province), the southeast area (Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province), the central region (Sejong, Daejeon and Chungcheong provinces), and the southwest area (Gwangju and South Jeolla Province). The three “specials” are Gangwon and North Jeolla provinces and Jeju Island, which hold special self-governing status.
The Lee administration envisions these mega-regions taking the lead in operating autonomously and developing tailored growth models. The strategy aims to move beyond the traditional Seoul-centered framework by fostering multiple regional hubs and strengthening the role of special self-governing provinces, with the ultimate goal of accelerating regional growth, preventing decline and ensuring a more balanced distribution of opportunities nationwide.
Highlighting Sejong as the cornerstone of this vision, Lee said: “The completion of Sejong as the administrative capital is the foundation stone of balanced development.”
He praised the transformation of Sejong from an empty field to today’s administrative hub and expressed gratitude to public servants who contributed to its growth.