Incheon rebranding as cosmopolitan port city

City sees its economy take off with debt recovery

By You Soo-sun

Incheon, the port city west of Seoul, is successfully pushing ahead with economic vitalization policies, boosted by a steadfast recovery from debt that has for long caused its economy to stagger. By improving its landfill policies and developing better transportation infrastructure, the Incheon metropolitan government, led by Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, plans to rebrand itself as a cosmopolitan port city.

Yoo Jeong-bok, mayor of Incheon, in his office. / Courtesy of Incheon metropolitan government

Much of the progress has been made since Yoo took office in 2014, when the city was saddled with debt amounting to over 13 trillion won ($11.3 billion). Since then, the debt has shrunk to 11 trillion won and is expected to go down to around 9 trillion won by the end of the year. Its debt ratio has been slashed from 39.9 to 24.1 percent as of June, 2017.

Yoo has collaborated with the central government as well as other local authorities to ease Incheon’s financial burden and boost its economy. Most importantly, he managed to get a government subsidy of 500 billion won, double that of 2014 and a record-high for the city on top of a budget of 2.5 trillion won.

This has contributed to the development of the city infrastructure and will be further used for promoting the welfare of its residents by creating jobs for them.

The mayor worked with other government bodies to improve its landfill and infrastructure policies. By holding multiple meetings with the Seoul city government, Gyeonggi provincial government, and the Ministry of Environment, the Incheon government now has ownership of 15.8 square-kilometers of land.

Part of it will be used as a temporary landfill, which will generate 75 billion won annually in waste commission fees. This is also expected to ease financial burden of the city as well as contribute to infrastructure development.

Yoo has emphasized his determination to boost the city’s reputation by developing its transportation infrastructure.

As a part of this effort the local government is working to enhance access to and from Seoul through the construction of high-speed underground rail networks, including the Incheon-bound GTX line that will reduce the commute time between Incheon and Seoul to 20 minutes.

It is also dedicated to improving access to the sea and revitalizing 168 nearby islands. Such improvements are designed to attract more tourists and to solidify the city’s identity by unifying its citizens.