[Opinion] What Is the Right Direction for Regional Development Policy?

Of South Korea’s population of 50 million, about half—25 million people—live in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province, while the other half live outside the capital region. As preference for the capital region has intensified, the government has introduced various policies at the national level. It has also created policies aimed at encouraging young people who grew up outside the capital region to continue building their lives and careers there. Although many policies have been introduced and implemented, it is necessary to examine whether they are truly moving in the right direction.

To promote regional economic development, the government has also worked with businesses on a range of initiatives. A few examples are as follows. First, to encourage high school graduates in the regions to enroll in local universities rather than attend universities in the Seoul metropolitan area, it created a regional talent admissions track. In hiring processes at public institutions and companies, additional points are sometimes given to applicants who graduated from schools in the relevant region. Projects such as the Hope Link Project have also been carried out to improve perceptions of regional companies.

These various policies do show an effort to achieve regional development. However, I believe they also contain a critical weakness: the relative lack of regional autonomy.

Gangwon Province is a representative example. Gangwon accounts for about 17% of South Korea’s land area, making it the second-largest province in the country by size after North Gyeongsang Province. However, its population is only about the same as that of Daejeon Metropolitan City, meaning that relative to its land area, it has a very small number of residents.

The reasons Gangwon had a relatively small population compared to its land area are as follows. As South Korea remains a divided nation, Gangwon was subject to numerous regulations for reasons of national security. Combined with overlapping regulations in other areas, these constraints prolonged Gangwon’s state of underdevelopment.

However, Gangwon has now been transformed into Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province. This means that greater authority will be granted to the local government. At the same time, it means Gangwon can pursue additional development by making use of its regional characteristics and environment. Granting autonomy for regional development can bring about positive change. Similar to Gangwon, North Jeolla Province is also scheduled to become North Jeolla Special Self-Governing Province.

For regional development, it is desirable for autonomy to increase, as in Gangwon and North Jeolla. This is because those who create change for greater regional development are highly likely to be the people who know the region best. If greater autonomy is granted to each region and substantial development follows, there will be many positive effects. This, in turn, could lead to greater national competitiveness.

In our country, preference for the Seoul metropolitan area and its intensification are, to some extent, unavoidable. Even so, there is no reason to neglect the development of non-capital regions. At a time when people are even discussing regional extinction, giving more autonomy to local areas is the right policy choice.

Regional development ultimately leads to national development. Going forward, regional development policy should be centered on local governments so that regional economies themselves can achieve stronger growth. I also hope that regional development policies carried out by local governments will be pursued with greater autonomy and accountability.

Suhyun Jung, Intern Researcher, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: [자유발언대] 지역발전 정책의 올바른 추진방향은 무엇인가

Author: Su-hyeon Jeong

Date: 2023-06-23

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=free_opinion&pn=6&idx=25810