President Lee: “Soaring Seoul housing prices, vanishing provinces... Balanced development is Korea’s survival strategy”

According to Financial News, President Lee Jae-myung stated on the 6th, “In the past, the Republic of Korea lacked resources and opportunities, so we pursued a strategy of concentrating everything in one place, essentially going all-in. However, this single-pole system and unbalanced growth strategy has now reached its limit.”
President Lee made these remarks while attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the Southern Inland Railway held in Geoje City, South Gyeongsang Province.
In his commemorative speech, President Lee said, “In the past, the Republic of Korea lacked resources and opportunities, so we pursued a strategy of concentrating all resources and opportunities in one place, essentially going all-in. We funneled everything into the Seoul metropolitan area in terms of regions, into a few large conglomerates in terms of companies, and into certain social groups.” He continued, “It is true that this produced considerable results through the so-called trickle-down effect, where the fruits of growth and development flowed down for everyone to share.”
However, President Lee stressed that this strategy has now hit a wall. He noted, “As everything has been drawn into the Seoul metropolitan area, the allocation of resources and opportunities is revealing serious inefficiencies. If everything continues to be concentrated in Seoul, with housing prices there soaring to the point where ordinary people can no longer live, while the provinces lose population and face extinction, then sustainable growth and development for this country will be impossible. We must now adopt balanced growth and balanced development as the Republic of Korea’s core survival strategy.”
He went on, “The Southern Inland Railway is not just about laying a single track. It marks the beginning of a national land transformation that will free us from a single-pole system centered on the capital region, connect people and regions, link opportunities, and create new growth engines for local areas. Today will be remembered as a historic day when we break away from capital-centric growth that has reached its limit and open a new era of region-led growth.”
President Lee particularly emphasized, “With this railway, travel time between the Seoul metropolitan area and Geoje will be reduced to around two hours, and many parts of North and South Gyeongsang Provinces will come within a half-day living sphere on a national scale.”
He added, “The beautiful Dadohae archipelago along the South Coast and the magnificent inland mountains will be linked as one. Tourism along the South Coast will rise to a world-class level, and this will in turn revive local commercial districts and create countless jobs.”
He also noted, “The space and aviation industry in Jinju and Sacheon, and the shipbuilding and marine engineering industry in Geoje, will gain greater competitiveness by connecting with inland logistics hubs. Industrial complexes built along the railway line will transform many parts of North and South Gyeongsang Provinces into vibrant cities that young people return to.”
Furthermore, he said, “This place where today’s groundbreaking ceremony is being held is the Gyeonnaeryang Strait, where Admiral Yi Sun-sin achieved victory in the Battle of Hansando. If Gyeonnaeryang in the past was the front line of national defense, today’s Gyeonnaeryang will become the starting point for the Republic of Korea’s new leap forward through balanced regional development.”
President Lee pledged to do his utmost to ensure that the Southern Inland Railway opens a new path for transforming the national territory. He emphasized, “The farther a region is from the Seoul metropolitan area, the more robust and bold our support will be. We will make sure the southern region rises as a maritime capital and successfully achieve a major transition to a five-core, three-specialized regional system.”
He also called for strict attention to safety. “Lastly, I have a request for everyone working on site. Above all, safety is paramount,” President Lee said. “During construction, please adhere thoroughly to all safety regulations and spare no investment in safety, so that not a single safety accident occurs and not a single worker suffers an industrial injury.”
cjk@fnnews.com Choi Jong-geun Reporter