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.
President Lee pushes Daejeon-South Chungcheong merger to ease capital overcrowding
President Lee Jae Myung stands next to Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers from Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province prior to a luncheon meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of the presidential office
By Anna J. Park
President Lee Jae Myung proposed integrating the administrative jurisdictions of Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province in a comment during a luncheon meeting with ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers from the two regions on Thursday, calling the move a potential breakthrough in addressing excessive concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area.
According to presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung, President Lee emphasized that the population's overconcentration in the capital region is one of the nation’s most pressing challenges, describing a potential administrative merger between Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province as a necessary step toward solving the issue.
“The president suggested that integration between Daejeon and the South Chungcheong region could help pave the way for easing overcrowding while advancing balanced regional growth,” Kang said.
Kang said the president also called for an open and forward-looking approach to resolving issues such as the location and naming of administrative institutions, envisioning the integrated region as a central hub for Korea’s growth and renewal.
The president further asked for cooperation to ensure the initiative becomes an exemplary case, noting that integration between metropolitan-level governments is being pursued for the first time.
“The benefits of integration must be shared by all citizens,” the president said, urging lawmakers to examine legal frameworks to the broadest extent possible, especially in the areas of fiscal decentralization and local autonomy.
According to multiple attendees, Lee repeatedly stressed to DPK lawmakers that the Daejeon-South Chungcheong integration “must be carried out,” explaining its necessity several times during the meeting.
Rep. Park Jeong-hyeon, head of the DPK’s Daejeon chapter, responded by expressing agreement on the problem of excessive concentration of people and resources in the capital region, adding that there is a need to examine the economic effects of the Daejeon-South Chungcheong integration as a path toward balanced growth. Rep. Lee Jung-mun, chair of the party’s South Chungcheong chapter, also said that “active discussions” are necessary.
While there had initially been negative responses within the ruling party to the proposed integration, participants said they broadly agreed on the need for administrative consolidation from the perspective of balanced national development and decided to quickly push ahead with the necessary legislative revisions.