Woo Dong-gi, Chairman of the Local Era Committee, “Overpopulation in the metropolitan area… Balanced regional development is a way to secure ‘quality of life’” [세계초대석]

There are advantages to focusing on the metropolitan area, including politics and economy.
Housing prices are high and people’s livelihoods are becoming difficult, leading to loss of leisure time.
No matter where you live, there is a need for upward standardization of people’s lives.

Before relocating a company or public institution to a local area
Supported by a package of educational, medical, and cultural facilities
We need to change the hub-centered local development paradigm

Increasing the number of medical schools and securing local medical professionals are essential conditions.
Essential for a livable local era
Increase settlement by providing unprecedented residential benefits

“The quality of life in the metropolitan area has reached its limits due to overpopulation. Compared to the advantages of being in the metropolitan area, where everything is concentrated, the disadvantages are greater. “Balanced regional development will go beyond the problem of preventing regional extinction and become a way to secure the quality of life for all citizens.”

This is a review of the 22nd National Assembly election by President Woo Dong-gi, chairman of the Local Era Committee. In an interview with Segye Ilbo held at the Seoul Government Complex on the 12th, two days after the April 10 general election, Chairman Woo said that even during this general election, he saw the shadow of the unipolar system in the metropolitan area, where not only major national resources such as manpower and industry, but also the attention of the political world were concentrated. Chairman Woo explained the meaning of balanced regional development and emphasized that the policy goal of the Local Era Committee is to guarantee the basic quality of life for all citizens regardless of where they live or live.

Chairman Woo also said, “Balanced regional development will be successful only when educational, medical, and cultural facilities are supported as a package before companies or public institutions relocate to the region.” It is pointed out that the limitations of existing base-centered local development must be overcome and the policy paradigm must be changed. Chairman Woo emphasized that the government has begun the process to achieve concrete results in balanced regional development through the ‘local era implementation plan’ such as ‘second home’ recently announced by the government. He also promised, “We will provide unprecedented settlement benefits” to increase the local settlement of medical students, mainly from non-metropolitan universities. He also revealed his relationship with Cho Ji-yeon (Gyeongsan, Gyeongsangbuk-do), the elected candidate of the People Power Party, who became a hot topic in this general election. The following is a Q&A with Chairman Woo.

―I served as the chairman of the support committee for President-elect Cho in this general election. What kind of relationship is this?

“In 2006, when I was president of Yeungnam University, former President Kim Dae-jung came to give a special lecture. President-elect Cho, who was a freshman at the time, asked former President Kim a bold question: ‘I came to the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy to become a female president. What should I do to get into politics?’ President-elect Cho was so admirable that he called me to the president’s office the next day, encouraged me, and promised, ‘I will help you if you need it during politics.’ When we met again for the first time in almost 20 years last December, I agonized over whether to accept the position of sponsor chairman. Former Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan, who ran against President-elect Cho, is a junior at Daegu High School. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing? At that time, her wife cleared things up by saying, ‘You call yourself an educator, not a politician, so how can you refuse a promise you made to a student?’”

―As a public official in the conservative camp, what do you think is the public sentiment expressed in the results of this general election?

“If you exclude the political sphere, it seems that people in the metropolitan area were very tired. The issue of people’s livelihoods lacking freedom and leisure was expressed in the election results. The pressure in the metropolitan area and economic activity was that high. It should be noted that there are limits to maintaining quality of life in the metropolitan area. The metropolitan area had the advantage of concentrating everything, including politics, economy, and culture, but now the disadvantages are greater than those advantages. Young people say that they cannot afford it because housing in the metropolitan area is expensive and it is difficult to live there. “Because there is no leisure and freedom, the quality of life is declining, and I think our people are no longer able to tolerate politics that lower the quality of life.”

-How can we improve the quality of life in the metropolitan area and local areas?

“I hope the 22nd National Assembly changes to a political system that recognizes regional representation. The metropolitan area accounts for only 11.8% of the total area, but the population is over 50%, so both the ruling party and the opposition party only focus on the metropolitan area. If that happens, the metropolitan area will eventually become overcrowded and the quality of life will decline. I felt strongly through this election that local councils must go beyond the issues of balanced regional development and preventing regional extinction. Ultimately, an upwardly standardized quality of life must be secured for all citizens living across the country. With the balanced development policy so far, the biggest beneficiaries will inevitably be residents of the metropolitan area. “We have only considered the issue of concentration in the metropolitan area in terms of economic efficiency, but now it is time to look at this issue as well.”

―This means that both the metropolitan area and the local regions need to be leveled upward. What measures are there?

“For upward leveling development, the paradigm must change. Even if industrial complexes and companies are physically moved to regional areas, they will ultimately fail if educational, medical, and cultural facilities are not supported by the package. If so, the concept of the policy itself must be changed. Rather than sending companies first and then education, medical care and culture go, if education and medical facilities go first institutionally and cultural facilities follow, companies and jobs will naturally be created. “Isn’t Pangyo the place where that was possible?”

―Previously, the local government proposed ‘four major special zones.’ As for the progress.

“For the ‘Education Development Special Zone,’ 31 out of 40 applications for the first public notice were designated as pilot areas. Local governments, offices of education, universities, local businesses, and public institutions will cooperate to provide comprehensive support for local public education innovation and local talent training and settlement. I think the people want a ‘special cultural zone’ that utilizes the region’s unique cultural resources to be created along the same lines. The final designation of a special cultural zone will take place in December of this year, and up to 20 billion won per city will be provided over three years. We are also in close consultation with relevant ministries regarding the ‘Opportunity Development Zone’, which supports the revitalization of corporate investment in local areas, and the ‘Urban Convergence Special Zone’, which concentrates industrial, residential, and leisure facilities in large local cities.”

―The government announced a study on reorganizing administrative districts, including ‘mega cities’. How will it help revitalize the region?

“The general opinion of academics and experts is that our country’s administrative districts are old and there is a mismatch between living areas and administrative districts. There is a need to discuss realistic administrative district reorganization. In relation to this, the Local Area Committee announced the ‘4+3 Ultra-metropolitan Area Development Plan’ as its first statutory plan last year. It is expected to contribute to the formation of local economies and living areas with global competitiveness through connection and cooperation between local governments. In addition, the government will launch the ‘Future-oriented Administrative System Reorganization Committee’ (tentative name) in April. This is a committee established to fundamentally reexamine the local administrative system after 30 years of popularly elected autonomy. “Local government committees will also participate in this committee to ensure that local governments’ opinions are faithfully reflected in the discussion process.”

―What are the contents and progress of the ‘super metropolitan area development plan’?

“The feature of the super-metropolitan area development plan is that it is divided into four super-metropolitan areas, including Chungcheong, Gwangju and Jeonnam, Daegu and Gyeongbuk, and Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongnam (Buul-Gyeong), and three special autonomous regions (4+3): Gangwon, Jeonbuk and Jeju. . Since each region has different characteristics, the plan is to implement a customized decentralization policy tailored to the region rather than a uniform decentralization policy. So far, the pace of discussion in the Chungcheong region is the fastest. The Chungcheong region is trying to secure future growth engines by linking innovative resources such as bio and mobility. In order to implement the plan, each local government must establish a special administrative agency, and South Chungcheong Province, North Chungcheong Province, and Sejong have gone so far as to form a council. The Buul-Gyeong region is also laying the foundation for the system by pushing for the enactment of the ‘Global Hub City Special Act’.”

―If you look at the recently approved ‘Local Era Implementation Plan’, the annual budget is 42 trillion won. What is the meaning and expected effect?

“This is the first time that a specific budget plan has been specified in the local autonomy and balanced development policy. The main feature is that the local committee, together with ministries, selected the ‘2024 Local Committee 4+10 Key Implementation Tasks’, which consists of 4 special zones and 10 tasks, as a task to be intensively promoted this year. If the first plan announced last year was a blueprint for the five-year local era, the implementation plan approved this time is an implementation process to bring the policy to concrete results. It is a bottom-up plan that includes regional policy tasks proposed by each city and province, self-established local decentralization implementation plans, and ultra-metropolitan cooperation projects planned by super-metropolitan regions. “Efforts from the central and local governments are needed to ensure that the plan leads to practical results in the local era.”

―There was an announcement to increase the number of medical schools, focusing on universities in non-metropolitan areas. There must be something to look forward to.

“Expanding the number of medical school students is a necessary condition for securing local medical manpower and is the key to completing a complete regional essential medical system. In order to create an era in which people can live comfortably anywhere, increasing the number of medical schools must be promoted. Over the past 10 years, Jeju’s maternal mortality ratio (rate of deaths due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth) per 100,000 live births is more than twice that of Seoul. In order for residents to settle down in the region, basic rights related to childbirth, maternal protection, and health care must be guaranteed. “Increasing the number of medical schools is necessary to correct the imbalance of doctors by region and guarantee an essential medical system.”

―There is extreme opposition from the medical community regarding the increase in medical schools. Is there a trick to attracting specialists to the region?

“In order to nurture local talent and build a residential ecosystem through special educational development zones, local medical schools are seeking to expand the selection of local talent to 60-80%, which is higher than the legal ratio of 40%. Until now, the rate of local talent who entered local medical schools settling down as local medical personnel was very high. Among medical specialists who obtained qualifications in 2017, 82% of those who graduated and trained at medical schools outside the metropolitan area remained in the area in 2020. “This is why we need to strengthen medical investment centered on regional base hospitals by reviewing the introduction of a contract-type regional essential doctor system linked to unprecedented settlement support, the introduction and expansion of essential medical care and regional fee systems, and the establishment of a regional medical development fund.”

Chairman Woo Dong-gi… ●Born in Uiseong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do in 1952 ●Graduated from the Department of Public Administration at Yeungnam University ●Ph.D. in Social Engineering from the Graduate School of the University of Tsukuba, Japan ●Professor of the Department of Public Administration at Yeungnam University ●President of Yeungnam University ●8th and 9th Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education President ●President of Daegu Catholic University ●20th Presidential Transition Committee Presidential Inauguration Preparation Committee Vice Chairman ●Chairman of the Balanced National Development Committee ●Chairman of the Local Era Committee (July 2023~)

Interview = Social Affairs Manager Song Min-seop 2, Summary = Reporter Lee Byeong-hoon

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