Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol (behind podium) holds a press briefing at the government complex in Seoul on April 19, 2022, on the establishment of a new type of independent regional administrative unit for an envisioned socio-economic “megacity” in the southeast. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 19 (Korea Bizwire) — The interior ministry on Tuesday signed an agreement with the local governments of Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province to launch a new European Union-like administrative unit aimed at promoting balanced regional development and invigorating local economies.
The “special union” of the three local governments will officially start operating in January next year, with its council to comprise 27 members — nine each from the three municipalities — and the heads of the three governments, to hold the union’s rotating presidency.
The “Bu-Ul-Gyeong Special Union” has been pushed for as part of efforts to seek balanced regional development by merging the three municipalities into one big zone that could rival the Seoul metropolitan area in terms of its economy and other functions.
The union is the first of its kind since the central government announced its plan to support joint development projects between local governments in October of last year.
The union seeks to become one of the eighth-largest economic blocs in Northeast Asia by 2040 along with South Korea’s capital area, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.
The union’s establishment is expected to lead to the development of cross-municipal traffic networks and bolster the region’s overall industrial capacity through the joint utilization of industrial infrastructures.
Officials have presented a comprehensive development plan for the union comprised of 30 lead projects and 40 long-term initiatives in areas of automobile, shipbuilding and aviation, including the promotion of the e-mobility industry using renewable batteries, and the formation of an industry cluster fusing aviation and information communications technology sectors.
The central government also plans to support similar initiatives by local governments in other regions.
According to officials, the city of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province in the southeast, and the city of Gwangju and South Jeolla Province in the southwest are discussing the establishment of respective special unions.
(Yonhap)
