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"Discussing the Future of Busan: The Era of the Arctic Route Opened by the Busan Global Hub City Special Act" – National Assembly Forum to Be Held

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon), together with the office of National Assembly Member Lee Sung-kwon, announced that it will host a forum tomorrow (September 9) at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building under the theme “Discussing the Future of Busan: The Era of the Arctic Route Opened by the Busan Global Hub City Special Act.”

The forum will be attended by members of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, National Assembly members representing the Busan area, officials from relevant central government ministries such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Office for Government Policy Coordination, and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, as well as officials from Busan Metropolitan City, Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, related organizations, and about 100 participants including the general public.

Event Overview

• ●Date & Venue: September 9, 2025 (Tuesday), 11:00 a.m., Seminar Room 1, National Assembly Members’ Office Building

• ●Hosted by: National Assembly Member Lee Sung-kwon and Busan Metropolitan City

• ●Scale of Attendance: Members of the National Assembly (Public Administration and Security Committee, Busan-based members, etc.), central government ministries (Ministry of the Interior and Safety, etc.), Busan Metropolitan City, related organizations (Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, Busan Development Institute, etc.), and about 100 participants including the general public

• ●Main Program: Forum under the theme “Discussing the Future of Busan: The Era of the Arctic Route Opened by the Busan Global Hub City Special Act”
  ‣ Opening ceremony (opening remarks and congratulatory speeches), keynote presentations, general discussion, and Q&A

This forum has been organized to establish the legislative validity of the “Busan Global Hub City Special Act” (hereinafter the Special Act) and to build policy consensus, as an institutional foundation for promoting balanced national development and taking preemptive measures in the era of Arctic Route exploration.

The forum will proceed as follows: an opening declaration, introduction of distinguished guests, and congratulatory remarks, followed by presentations on ▲“The Meaning and Key Points of the Busan Global Hub City Special Act” ▲“The Era of the Arctic Route and the Role of Busan” ▲“Korea’s Growth Strategy and Balanced Development Centered on Hub Cities,” then a general discussion, Q&A, and closing session.

The first presentation, “The Meaning and Key Points of the Busan Global Hub City Special Act,” will be delivered by Lee Kyung-deok, Planning Officer of Busan Metropolitan City. The Special Act was jointly proposed by all members of the National Assembly representing the Busan region upon the opening of the 22nd National Assembly in May last year, with bipartisan consensus on its necessity, and consultations with relevant ministries have already been completed.

The second presentation, “The Era of the Arctic Route and the Role of Busan,” will be delivered by Kim Tae-yoo, Professor Emeritus at Seoul National University. He will present the necessity and strategic measures for positioning Busan Port as Korea’s central hub port in preparation for the era of the Arctic Route.

The final presentation, “Korea’s Growth Strategy and Balanced Development Centered on Hub Cities,” will be delivered by Jung Min-su, Head of the Regional Economy Research Team at the Bank of Korea. He will stress the policy recommendation and paradigm shift that concentrated investment in a small number of hub cities is effective in addressing regional growth imbalances and countering the overconcentration in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Following the three keynote presentations, a general discussion will be led by Kim In-hwan, President of the National Survival Technology Research Association; Kim Geun-seop, Director General of the Port Research Division at the Korea Maritime Institute; Lee Myung-ho, President of the Busan International Finance Center Promotion Agency; and Lee Seung-uk, Head of the Public Land Research Center at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements.

Busan Metropolitan City expects this forum to be a valuable opportunity to discuss the significance of the Special Act and the future of Busan, as balanced national development and pioneering the Arctic Route are highly important tasks of the era.

Meanwhile, the Special Act, currently pending at the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Public Administration and Security, was submitted as an agenda item to the Subcommittee on Legislation of the same committee on August 26, initiating full-fledged legislative discussions.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “The Special Act is a bill that stipulates the role and function of Busan as a hub city in the southeastern region to counter excessive concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area, while enabling the state to provide intensive support for logistics, finance, and marine specialized industries where Busan has comparative advantages, thereby preemptively responding to the development of the Arctic Route. This forum has been prepared as an occasion to candidly discuss the significance of the Special Act and the future of Busan, and I hope that today’s discussion will pave the way for the swift passage of the Special Act.”