Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho (left) and North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo hold their first official meeting at the North Gyeongsang Provincial Government building on Wednesday afternoon. [North Gyeongsang Province]
Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho (left) and North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo hold their first official meeting at the North Gyeongsang Provincial Government building on Wednesday afternoon. [North Gyeongsang Province]

Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province have begun coordinating a joint response to key regional issues, including construction of the Daegu-North Gyeongsang new airport, administrative integration and a second round of public institution relocations.

Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho and North Gyeongsang Governor Lee Cheol-woo held their first official meeting Wednesday afternoon at the North Gyeongsang Provincial Government building, where they discussed cooperation measures to secure future growth engines for both regions and advance balanced national development.

Both leaders agreed that cooperation between the two regions is paramount for sustainable development and pledged to maintain close communication and coordination on major pending issues.

They agreed to accelerate the push for administrative integration, saying legislation related to the Daegu-North Gyeongsang merger — currently pending before the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee — must pass in the regular session this year. The goal is to elect a unified head of government alongside the 2028 general election and launch a new integrated special city.

On the second round of public institution relocations, the two sides agreed to mount a joint effort, sharing the view that such relocations are essential to overcoming the dominance of the Greater Seoul area and the threat of regional depopulation. They also agreed to actively make the case to the central government that Daegu and North Gyeongsang are key hubs for future industries, including robotics, future mobility, semiconductors and secondary batteries.

On construction of the Daegu-North Gyeongsang new airport, the two leaders agreed to work together to ensure the facility opens on schedule. To that end, they said they would gather input from experts, local National Assembly members and relevant agencies while continuing working-level consultations and discussing concrete implementation plans.

Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho (left) and North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo. [Daegu City]
Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho (left) and North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo. [Daegu City]

The two sides agreed to sustain their cooperative framework, with Governor Lee scheduled to visit Daegu in August for follow-up discussions.

"There are more challenges that Daegu and North Gyeongsang must tackle together than ever before," Mayor Choo said. "We will work closely with North Gyeongsang to ensure that key projects, including the new airport, proceed without a hitch, and actively secure cooperation from the government and the National Assembly to deliver results that citizens can feel."

Governor Lee said Daegu and North Gyeongsang share the same roots and are stronger together. "Through Wednesday's meeting, we reconfirmed that the two sides hold the same position on major issues such as the new airport and administrative integration," he said. "We will do our utmost to realize the aspirations of our residents as soon as possible."


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