President vows to reshape industrial map through '3 mega-projects, 5-pole 3-special' plan

Central-local 'one team' cooperation urged; Lee expresses hope for safe return of Koreans missing in Nepal

President Lee Jae Myung delivers remarks at a luncheon with mayors, county chiefs and district mayors from across the country at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung delivers remarks at a luncheon with mayors, county chiefs and district mayors from across the country at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday framed the overcrowding of the greater Seoul area and the decline of regional communities as a matter of national survival, pledging to unlock the growth potential of the entire country through his "5-pole 3-special" balanced development policy and an expansion of local authority.

Speaking at a luncheon with local government heads from across the country at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said the twin crises of metropolitan overcrowding and regional depopulation "pose a grave threat to the Republic of Korea," adding that "if we cannot solve this problem, there is no future for Korea."

"We can only have a future and hope if we ease the chronic concentration in the greater Seoul area, awaken the potential of the entire country, and build an era of growth for all," he said.

Lee said his administration's push for the "3 mega-projects" and the "5-pole 3-special" framework — aimed at completely reshaping the country's industrial map and improving living conditions in the regions — was driven by exactly that imperative.

He also said the government had put in place a special regional support regime under which areas farther from Seoul receive more substantial assistance, and that it was continuing to identify new projects to deliver tailored support under that framework. "We will keep working to expand the real authority and fiscal resources of local governments," he pledged.

Lee called for close cooperation between the central and local governments, saying the challenges ahead could not be met by the central government alone. "Cooperation between the central and local governments is essential," he said. "I am convinced that if the center and the regions become one team, moving in step with one heart, we will build a Korea where all citizens can be happy."

Before the luncheon began, Lee mentioned the recent flooding in the mountainous Himalayan region of north-central Nepal, expressing concern over nine Korean nationals whose fate remains unknown. "It is deeply distressing that the safety of nine of our citizens abroad is unclear," he said, urging those present to join in wholeheartedly wishing for their safe and early return.


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