Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Calls for the Second-Round Relocation of Public Institutions to Be Pursued as a National Strategy Centered on Hubs and Functional Clustering

내용

Busan Metropolitan City announced today, August 21, that Mayor Chun Jae-soo met with Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yun-deok and proposed a concentrated relocation approach centered on hub cities with strong growth potential in connection with the government’s second-round relocation of public institutions.

Mayor Chun stressed that, rather than simply dispersing institutions among regions, public institutions related to knowledge services such as finance should be concentrated in Busan, the central city of the Southeastern Region, the largest economic area outside the Seoul metropolitan area, to foster a new national growth axis capable of competing with the capital region.

During the meeting, Mayor Chun called for a paradigm shift in the national balanced development strategy to reflect the era of population decline.

Citing research by leading national policy research institutes showing that productivity can be increased by concentrating resources in hub cities where industries, talent, and infrastructure generate strong clustering effects, rather than spreading limited national resources too thinly, he reiterated that Busan is ideally positioned to implement such a “hub-centered” strategy.

Mayor Chun also highlighted Busan’s strengths as a city fully prepared to accommodate relocated institutions, including its solid industrial base and excellent living environment, which can help spread the benefits of public-institution relocation throughout the Southeastern Region.

He emphasized that concentrating key public institutions in maritime affairs, finance, and other fields in Busan would create tremendous industrial synergies by linking them with the existing core industries of Ulsan and Gyeongsangnam-do, including shipbuilding, automobiles, and petroleum refining, further reinforcing Busan’s role as the economic hub of the Southeastern Region.

He also noted Busan’s proven ability to support the stable settlement of relocated institution employees. During the first round of public-institution relocation, Busan developed the nation’s only urban-regeneration-based innovation city and achieved a high rate of relocation accompanied by family members.

Mayor Chun Jae-soo said, “The second-round relocation of public institutions must go beyond simply dividing institutions among different regions and become a national strategy for creating a new growth axis for the Republic of Korea.”

He added, “I strongly urge the government to concentrate public institutions related to knowledge-service industries—including finance, maritime affairs, advanced industries and research and development, as well as film and visual media—in Busan, the central city of the Southeastern Region, the largest economic area outside the Seoul metropolitan area, and foster it as a new national growth axis capable of competing with the Seoul metropolitan area.”