Lee pledges new bank to spearhead southeastern economic revival
Lee Jae-myung, center, presidential candidate of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, appeals for voter support during a campaign rally near Dongdaegu Station in Daegu, Sunday. Yonhap
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, pledged Sunday to establish a new regional financial institution based in Busan.
He said the bank, tentatively named the Southeast Investment Bank, aims to address the long-standing challenges faced by businesses in the southeastern region of the country.
In a post on Facebook, Lee highlighted that many local enterprises in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province struggle to secure funding and attract investment due to the heavy concentration of financial infrastructure in the Seoul metropolitan area.
He said this geographic imbalance has hindered regional businesses from competing fairly, limiting their growth and delaying the development of new industries, underscoring the need for a tailored financial support system for the southeastern region’s economic landscape.
"Despite the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang region’s historical growth as a hub for heavy and chemical industries — such as shipbuilding, automotive manufacturing, petrochemicals and machinery — its competitiveness in the global market has been declining due to shifts in industrial structure and rapid changes in the global industrial environment," Lee wrote.
"The proposal to establish the Southeast Investment Bank is a practical solution that even members of previous administrations have considered."
Lee noted that this initiative would move beyond the ongoing disputes over relocating the Korea Development Bank (KDB), which have only intensified regional tensions without producing meaningful progress.
"The new bank would provide tangible support for maritime industry financing and contribute to expanding employment opportunities for young people in the region," he wrote.
Lee outlined that the new institution will manage a substantial policy fund aimed at investing in the region’s core industries, including shipbuilding, automotive production, components and materials and renewable energy.
To secure funding, Lee explained that the initial capital, estimated to be around 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion), would be jointly contributed by the central government, local governments and key financial institutions such as KDB, the Industrial Bank of Korea and the Export-Import Bank of Korea.
Presenting his long-term vision for the region, Lee stated that the area would be supported by marine finance aimed at facilitating Arctic shipping routes, while industrial finance efforts would spearhead a comprehensive transformation of the manufacturing belt.
"Through a combination of government backing and strong regional partnerships, the financial capabilities of the broader southeast region would be enhanced to drive innovation and revitalization within the local industrial economy," he wrote. "I will position the Southeast Investment Bank as a national policy institution that will lead the region's economic ecosystem toward a sustainable and self-reinforcing growth cycle."