Yoon Suk Yeol pledges balanced regional development with Busan bill

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a government-public debate on ways to improve people's livelihoods through balanced regional development at City Hall in Busan on Tuesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Korea will develop special districts for logistics, finance and high technologies in the southern port city of Busan, and expand financial support toward companies that operate in the region to foster balanced development across the country.

President Yoon Suk Yeol made the announcements as part of government plans concerning the Global Hub City Special Act, designed to foster Busan as an essential hub of the southern part of the country.

Busan, 320 kilometers (198 miles) from Seoul, is the country's second-largest city and is home to 3.43 million residents out of the country's total population of 51.7 million. The city vied to host the 2030 World Expo.

“The government will designate special districts for finance, logistics and investment in Busan, and strengthen financial and tax support for companies operating in the region,” Yoon said in the government-public debate held at City Hall in Busan on Tuesday.

Yoon said the efforts to foster balanced regional development are necessary to restore the country's total fertility rate to 1.0.

Korea's total fertility rate fell to a record quarterly low of 0.7 in the third quarter of last year, far below the replacement level of 2.1 needed to maintain population stability.

More than half the country's population lives in the greater Seoul area that includes Gyeonggi and Incheon.

Yoon said the government will speed up the controversial relocation of the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) from Yeouido in western Seoul to Busan, which was among his campaign pledges, and direct financial support programs toward Busan and nearby Ulsan and South Gyeongsang.

He also noted the completion of Gadeok-do International Airport by 2029 and the redevelopment of Busan's North Port into an eco-friendly waterfront park as other projects essential to the planned development of Busan into a global hub city.

For such development, the government will support attracting foreign education agencies and a children's hospital.

Yoon's pledges arrived months ahead of the country's legislative election scheduled for April.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]