Park receives briefings from all departments Friday, chairs executive tea session Thursday; returns to office focused on regional development roadmap and livelihood stability

Gov. Park Wan-soo (center) chairs an executive tea session Thursday after returning to duty, sharing key provincial priorities and the direction for his new term. [South Gyeongsang Province]
Gov. Park Wan-soo (center) chairs an executive tea session Thursday after returning to duty, sharing key provincial priorities and the direction for his new term. [South Gyeongsang Province]

Gov. Park Wan-soo of South Gyeongsang Province, who won re-election in the June 3 local elections, is moving to pursue his campaign slogan "Great Leap for South Gyeongsang" in earnest.

Park arrived at the office Friday morning and received catch-up briefings from all provincial departments. The province said he is focusing on internal meetings to minimize the administrative gap caused by roughly a month of election campaigning and to ensure continuity of operations.

Returning to work, Park plans to accelerate the "Great Leap" initiative — aimed at improving residents' quality of life and strengthening regional competitiveness — building on the economic achievements of his first four-year term. His administration will prioritize livelihood stability for residents while concentrating on securing future growth engines, including the development of new industries.

During his first term, South Gyeongsang Province ranked first among non-Greater Seoul regions in gross regional domestic product and posted a trade surplus for 42 consecutive months. Other notable achievements include the nation's first provincial residents' pension program and the opening of the Korea AeroSpace Administration.

The centerpiece of the "Great Leap" agenda is a differentiated growth strategy organized by subregion. The plan divides the province into five zones, each to be developed around industries suited to its particular characteristics, with the goal of driving balanced development across the province.

The central zone, anchored by Changwon, will be developed as a hub for manufacturing AI, small modular reactors and the defense industry. The province also plans to designate content and software as future core industries and concentrate administrative resources on building the related ecosystem. The eastern zone, covering Gimhae and Yangsan, will focus on smart logistics, advanced materials, and medical and biotech industries.

The western zone will be developed around Sacheon as an aerospace complex city. To that end, the province plans to push for special legislation establishing the aerospace complex city and to build a gifted school and a residential theme park in the area.

The southern zone, encompassing Geoje and Tongyeong, will work to strengthen global shipbuilding competitiveness while also being developed as a hub for global tourism and the marine economy. The northern zone, including Hamyang and Geochang, will be built into an innovation hub for the anti-aging and safety industries, with a wide-area transport network connecting the entire province.

The province also plans to build a welfare policy framework that residents can feel directly. The No. 1 campaign pledge — a 400 billion won ($262 million) "Residents' Happiness Fund" — will be steadily built up at 100 billion won per year using proceeds from public development gains and energy generation revenue. The fund will serve as the financial base for the "Happiness UP Five Welfare" programs. Under the plan, a membership card for residents aged 18 and older and welfare points for those in their 40s and 50s will be introduced, alongside efforts to build a South Gyeongsang-style welfare system with no blind spots. The province also intends to fully implement a grandchild-care allowance to ease the childcare burden on dual-income couples and a program to expand senior employment by 100,000 jobs.

Earlier, on Thursday — his first official day back — Park held a tea session with senior officials to review key provincial issues. At the meeting, he laid out major administrative priorities for the "Great Leap" agenda, including livelihood stability grounded in sound fiscal management, the development of new industries, and administrative innovation to address the climate crisis. He particularly cited the achievement of maintaining fiscal discipline — including the payment of living support grants without taking on additional debt — and urged officials to make supporting low-income residents and vulnerable groups struggling with high prices their top priority.

"I will not forget the opinions residents shared with me during the campaign, and I will maintain the same commitment throughout my term," Park said. "Now that the election is over, I ask all public officials to focus solely on residents and regional development and to take an active stance on administrative innovation."

A senior provincial official said the core tasks of the ninth elected-term administration, which begins July 1, will center on issues related to the "Great Leap" agenda. "We plan to prepare thoroughly in the time remaining — including drawing up a roadmap — so that provincial operations proceed without a hitch," the official said.


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