Gov't seeks to improve living conditions outside Seoul metropolitan area

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during an event hosted by the Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Balanced Development at Busan International Finance Center, Thursday. At the event, Yoon announced a set of policies to decentralize the country's capital region by further developing provincial areas. Courtesy of Presidential Office

Firms move to provincial areas to receive various incentives

By Ko Dong-hwan

The government has unveiled a range of policies to help reduce the country's overdependence on Seoul and its surrounding areas, and achieve a balanced national development by encouraging companies to move to provincial areas and establish advanced educational, residential and cultural infrastructure outside the capital city, according to officials, Thursday.

Presided over by President Yoon Suk Yeol, the Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Balanced Development held an event at Busan International Finance Center to announce a policy vision and strategies for fostering provincial areas. Some 200 guests attended the gathering, including mayors and governors, entrepreneurs, young farmers in agricultural and fishery industries, as well as people living in remote regions.

The committee has five key goals: boost local authorities with fewer strings attached to the central government; reform education to nurture local workforces; create more local jobs through innovative restructuring; maximize unique characteristics of regional economies; and improve local welfare with customized everyday lifestyle.

To realize the goals, the committee has announced nine core policies with two leading ones. One of the two is creating more jobs in remote regions.

So far, job-oriented special districts have been designated nationwide but turned out to be less fruitful than originally anticipated. The committee has pointed out this is because the planning, penned mostly by the central government, hasn't taken into account "local" needs enough and thus failed to attract enough companies. Incentives offered by the central authorities were also insignificant in effect and provisioned only during a beginning phase of post-designation rather than extending to the medium or longer term.

The new plan will improve the incentives to an unprecedented level, according to the committee. Local citizens in the new job-centered districts will see a wider range of taxes exemptions, deregulation unfolding on a deeper level and subsidies pumping in more strongly. The committee said at least 10 such incentives will be rolled out to spur regional development.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, shakes hands with North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo at an event hosted by the Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Balanced Development at Busan International Finance Center, Thursday. Next to the governor are Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, second from left, and Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, third from left. Courtesy of Presidential Office

The other of the two-pronged policies revolutionizing educational environments in remote regions so that local students can get a better education without having to relocate to one of Korea's major cities.

In this framework, newly designated districts will see their local governments and local offices of education work together to create ecosystems so that students' academic needs will be met locally and public schooling improved to the level of reducing any need for private lessons.

The committee said bidding for an education special district will begin in December, with their operation set to begin next year.

Also among the committee's key policies is introducing "function-infused" local districts in terms of workplace, residence and leisure. Centering on Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon and Ulsan, the framework will extend the similar urban projects introduced that have so far been confined within the capital region to a broader area where KTX and other railway services connect.

The committee said it will also select 13 special cultural districts by December and infuse a national fund of up to 20 billion won ($15 million) into each district for the first three years. Another 49 billion won from the national coffer will be invested next year to comprehensively develop cultural exhibitions, performing arts and related activities in local settings. Another 8.8 billion won is also reserved for next year to discover and develop signature local brands that will spur regional economies.

Selecting five or more digital innovation districts by 2030 is another key policy. Pools of local universities specializing in software will be expanded ― from 44 in 2022 to 100 by 2027 nationwide ― and digital social overhead capital (SOC) will be expanded to more than 300 nationwide to familiarize local residents with digital learning.

Ahead of the Thursday event, 17 experts in finance, education, industry, public health, culture and decentralization were appointed as the committee's first batch of leaders, Wednesday.