Regional policy in the Republic of Korea

Since the 1960s, the Republic of Korea has achieved a rapid economic growth by supplying industrial complexes and intensive development of a certain number of regions. However, in the process, some regions have come to experience relative economic stagnation and the gap between the regions have gradually widened. Therefore, the Korean government has pursued various policy measures as to promote regional equality and to enhance industrial competitiveness. Especially, from the 2000s, there have been the national projects such as development of “Innovation Cities” outside the Metropolitan areas and also the policies to promote the “Greater Economic Regions”. However, these policies have been criticized for failing to meet the demand for capacity-building of the under-developed regions. Thus, the Korean government has shifted its regional policy paradigm so that the people in the region can actually lead the regional development.