Busan is good

Balanced Growth for Korea Starts in Busan... Busan Mayor Presents Strategy for a Successful Maritime Capital

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Busan Metropolitan City announced that Mayor Chun Jae-soo attended the 10th Central-Local Cooperation Council held at Cheong Wa Dae at 2:00 p.m. today, August 26, where he presented Busan's strategy for successful locally led growth centered on establishing an "international maritime business hub."

The meeting was attended by 29 council members, including the President, the Prime Minister, 16 mayors and governors, and representatives of the four major local government associations, as well as ministers from relevant central government ministries.

The meeting proceeded with agenda briefings by relevant central government ministries, presentations by local governments on their strategies for success, an open discussion, and deliberation and resolution on the agenda item "Revision of the Operational Plan for the Central-Local Cooperation Council."

Relevant central government ministries presented four agenda items: measures for central-local cooperation under the ninth popularly elected local administrations, the national government's plan to promote locally led growth, measures to foster regional growth engines in connection with three mega-projects, and directions for fiscal investment to support balanced regional growth.

Among these, through its "Plan to Promote Locally Led Growth," the national government presented a vision to develop the "Southern Maritime Capital Region" by combining the Southeast Region's manufacturing, logistics, and energy industries with its port infrastructure.

Under the plan, Busan will be developed as an international maritime and financial business hub, Ulsan as an East Asian hub for clean energy, and Gyeongsangnam-do as an industrial ecosystem for port logistics, manufacturing, and artificial intelligence, linking the strengths of the three regions into a single growth axis.

In the local government presentations that followed, Mayor Chun presented three core strategies and four foundations for developing Busan into an "international maritime business hub" in connection with the national government's vision for the Southern Maritime Capital Region.

The three core strategies are designed to generate momentum for innovation across the entire southern region by attracting and retaining businesses and talent through a combination of relocation and investment incentives and settlement support; expanding the industrial ecosystem by jointly attracting maritime-related companies; and establishing a multifunctional hub at Busan North Port that integrates maritime administration and industry with cultural and tourism attractions, including a dome arena.

To support these strategies, Busan will strengthen four foundations: a global maritime network, a tri-port system, a finance and talent ecosystem, and the development of strategic technologies.

Through these measures, Busan Metropolitan City plans to establish a virtuous growth cycle in which policies, businesses, capital, and talent converge, leading to new investment and industries. The city aims to spread Busan's growth momentum throughout the southern region, establish a new growth axis on par with the Seoul metropolitan area, and lead Korea's balanced national development and transition to a multipolar system.

Mayor Chun Jae-soo said, "Busan as a maritime capital is a national strategy for Korea to overcome its single-pole concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area and move toward a multipolar system. Building on the sea, our frontier for future growth, we will create a virtuous cycle that attracts businesses and talent to Busan, spread the benefits across the entire southern region, and establish a new growth axis on par with the Seoul metropolitan area."

Meanwhile, the Central-Local Cooperation Council is the highest-level decision-making body between the central and local governments, established to strengthen cooperation between them by positioning local governments as partners in national administration.

The President serves as chair, while the Prime Minister and the president of the Governors Association of the Republic of Korea serve as co-vice chairs. Ministers of major central government ministries, mayors and governors, and representatives of the four major local government associations participate in the council to deliberate on and coordinate major national policies concerning local autonomy and balanced development.