Post detail page | President of the Republic of Korea > President’s words and writings

Dear citizens and residents of Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, I sincerely congratulate you on the 2nd Local Autonomy and Balanced Development Day ceremony and the 2024 Korea Local Era Expo.

Gangwon-do, where today’s event was held, is at the forefront of opening an ‘era of livable provinces’. In June of last year, the long-awaited launch of Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province was achieved. We are breaking down old regulations that were blocking development and creating new digital and bio-based high-tech industries. Gangwon’s future is widening as the traditional tourism industry is also revitalizing. In the future, I and the government will do our best to support Gangwon so that it can take a powerful leap forward as a global city for future industries.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Republic of Korea is currently facing crises and challenges both internally and externally. Uncertainty in global security and the economy is increasing due to conflicts everywhere. North Korea launched a missile just yesterday and is sending a large army to Ukraine, threatening the world and our peace. The results of the current US presidential election will have a significant impact on us.

Internally, structural problems such as low birth rate, aging population, concentration in the metropolitan area, and disappearance of regions are holding back growth.

In order to overcome these challenges and crises and achieve a new leap forward, local regions must be revived more than anything else. The most important task for us now is to utilize our land and manpower thoroughly. Each region must pursue growth by leveraging its comparative strengths, and the central government must provide strong support to achieve balanced regional development.

The most important thing in balanced regional development is to ensure that sufficient good jobs are created in the region. To this end, the government is promoting special opportunity development zones as a representative brand for fostering local industries. The Opportunity Development Special Zone is the first local-led special zone designed and led directly by the local government.

The government is providing unprecedented incentives, including tax benefits and financial support, to special opportunity development zones. Following the eight local governments last June, a total of six additional local governments, including Gangwon, Gwangju, Ulsan, Sejong, North Chungcheong Province, and South Chungcheong Province, were designated today and an investment agreement ceremony was signed. Companies are planning large-scale investments totaling 33.8 trillion won in newly designated special opportunity development zones. If corporate investment begins in earnest, many good jobs will be created in the region, and residents will also feel the benefits as the local economy revives.

In addition, various policies to foster local industries, such as the regional revitalization fund collaborated by central ministries, are further revitalizing the region.

However, it is difficult to open a truly local era with industry and jobs alone. Only when good education and medical care are supported will the quality of life of residents improve and more companies and talented people will come to the region. The government will successfully establish glocal universities and the RISE project, which will become a driving force in local education innovation, along with special educational development zones. We will definitely create a virtuous cycle in which local talent finds good jobs in the region and they in turn contribute to the growth of the region.

In addition, we will quickly establish a regionally complete essential medical system to ensure the lives and health of local residents.

Dear citizens, Just as freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin, local decentralization must be achieved in order for balanced regional development to succeed. Balanced development and local decentralization must work organically within one framework and create synergy. So far, the government has been pursuing bold transfer of authority and fiscal decentralization to local governments. In particular, last year, the Local Autonomy, Decentralization and Balanced Development Act was enacted and the Local Era Committee was launched.

In addition, the central and local governments have jointly established a comprehensive plan for the local era, presented a blueprint for the future, and implemented an implementation plan worth a total of 42 trillion won, which is being meticulously implemented.

We are also laying the foundation for a new leap forward for the region. Under our administration, Gangwon and Jeonbuk were launched as special self-governing provinces, and Daegu and Gyeongbuk will be reborn as integrated local governments with a legal status equivalent to Seoul.

Dear citizens, As regional competitiveness increases and the number of successful cases of regional development increases, the national competitiveness will also increase. I have held meetings with city and provincial governors as well as central and regional cooperation meetings every quarter to seek solutions to increase national competitiveness led by the region. In addition, a total of 29 public livelihood debates were held to listen to voices from all over the country and solve local problems.

Our government will not follow in the footsteps of the past, seizing all authority and only talking about local autonomy. We will do our best to support local governments that strive to develop themselves. We will do our best to ensure that our citizens, no matter who they are or where they live, can enjoy fair opportunities in all areas of life, from jobs to education, medical care, culture, and infrastructure.

We live in an era where regional competitiveness becomes national competitiveness. We must take the Republic of Korea forward again by opening wide the door to the local era. Let us work together and move forward toward an era in which all citizens are happy and comfortable to live in. thank you