South Korea Passes Landmark Bill for Regional Balanced Growth

South Korea’s National Assembly has approved a significant amendment to the Special Act on Local Autonomy Decentralization and Regional Balanced Development, paving the way for a more balanced national growth strategy. The Ministry of Interior and Safety, along with the Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development, announced on May 7, 2026, that the revised legislation is a cornerstone for the government’s ‘5 Poles, 3 Special Zones’ vision, aiming to shift economic and developmental focus beyond the heavily centralized Seoul Metropolitan Area.

For decades, South Korea has grappled with an imbalance where the capital region of Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province dominates in terms of population, economy, and infrastructure. This new legislative framework seeks to overcome this ‘single-pole’ system by empowering local regions to drive their own growth. The ‘5 Poles, 3 Special Zones’ strategy envisions fostering five major growth hubs and three specialized zones across the country, encouraging a more distributed and sustainable development model.

A key provision of the amendment is the introduction of a Balanced Growth Impact Assessment. This mechanism will require central government agencies to analyze the potential effects of their major policies and financial projects on balanced national growth before implementation. The assessment results will then inform the adoption of region-specific preferential policies, ensuring a systematic, government-wide approach to reducing regional disparities. Additionally, the new law establishes a Super-Metropolitan Special Account within the existing Special Account for Regional Balanced Development. This account is designed to provide stable financial support for large-scale, cross-administrative cooperation projects, such as developing strategic regional industries and constructing inter-regional transportation networks that transcend administrative boundaries.

To ensure effective implementation of these super-metropolitan initiatives, the amendment strengthens the operational framework. It introduces Super-Metropolitan Special Agreements, which will be jointly signed by national and local governments, as well as private entities, following review by the Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development. Furthermore, Super-Metropolitan Promotion Councils will be established to oversee and coordinate these projects from their inception to completion, enhancing their consistency and effectiveness. The Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development itself will see its functions strengthened, with new ex-officio members including the Minister of Justice and the head of the Superintendents of Education Council, enabling a broader discussion on diverse regional issues like foreign resident policies and education.

Reflecting its renewed policy direction, the legislation has also been renamed from the “Special Act on Local Autonomy Decentralization and Regional Balanced Development” to the “Special Act on Local Autonomy Decentralization and Balanced Growth.” This change, along with the modification of “regional balanced development” to “balanced growth,” clearly signals the government’s focus on fostering self-sustaining regional development. The implementation of the Balanced Growth Impact Assessment and Super-Metropolitan Special Agreements will commence six months after the law’s promulgation. The Super-Metropolitan Special Account, however, is set to take effect from January 1, 2027.

Minister of Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung remarked, “This special act amendment provides a crucial foundation for institutionalizing the ‘5 Poles, 3 Special Zones’ balanced growth strategy, driving a significant national transformation.” Acting Chairman Lee Byeong-heon of the Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development added, “The amendment lays the cornerstone for multi-polar growth in South Korea. The Committee will act as a control tower, collaborating with central and local governments to ensure regions lead the nation’s growth.”

Source: 행정안전부 보도자료 — Original Article (Korean)