On September 16, Naju Mayor Yoon Byung-tae was elected chair of the 19th term of the National Innovation City Council, representing 11 member cities nationwide.
The government has begun formulating its plan for the second relocation of public institutions, while Wonju is discussing ways to connect additional relocations with local industries and jobs.
The next measure of innovation cities’ success is expected to lie not in the number of new buildings, but in the connections that relocated institutions leave behind in their regions.
3-line summary
1. Innovation cities have entered discussions on the second relocation
2. Wonju will hold a forum on September 18
3. The relocation plan is scheduled to be finalized in the fourth quarter of this year
Naju Mayor to Lead the Council of 11 Cities
The National Innovation City Council consists of 11 member cities. According to Yonhap News, Naju Mayor Yoon Byung-tae was elected chair of the 19th term, while Daegu Dong-gu District Mayor Woo Seong-jin and Jinju Mayor Cho Gyu-il will serve as vice chairs. The chairmanship is for a one-year term and may be renewed once.
Mayor Yoon stated that the second relocation of public institutions and other issues would be shared tasks, and expressed his intention to make active proposals to the government and the National Assembly. This describes the new leadership’s response direction; it does not mean that the second relocation of public institutions has produced confirmed results.
This election is drawing attention because it gives innovation cities a channel through which to raise the issue of institutional relocation as a shared task, rather than treating it solely as a competition among individual cities to attract institutions. However, whether the council’s proposals lead to actual relocation targets or site selections will be determined during the process of finalizing the government’s plan.
What Wonju Is Asking Is, “How Many More Institutions Can It Attract?”
Wonju plans to hold a forum on September 18 under the theme “How Can the Relocation of Public Institutions Become Regional Growth?” According to a Newstown report, Gangwon Innovation City is home to the National Health Insurance Service, the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, the Korea Tourism Organization, the Korea National Park Service, and the Korea Road Traffic Authority, among others.
The focus of the forum is not to stop at attracting additional institutions, but to find ways to connect the functions of existing and new institutions with local industries, universities, and companies. It reflects the concern that if institutions’ research and activities do not lead to business growth, start-ups, talent development, and youth employment, physical relocation alone will have difficulty creating sustained regional growth.
Residential conditions will also be discussed. If workplaces are located in the region while people maintain their living bases in the Seoul metropolitan area, the effects on local consumption and population growth may be limited. This issue is also connected to the background behind the government’s inclusion of expanding self-sufficient residential foundations in its proposed direction.
The Fourth Quarter of This Year: Remaining Procedures Before the Plan Is Finalized
According to a Newstown report, the government plans to finalize the second plan for the relocation of public institutions to local areas during the fourth quarter of this year, after gathering opinions from relevant ministries, public institutions, labor unions, and others, and going through deliberation and resolution by the Presidential Committee on Regional Development. Minimizing the number of institutions remaining in the Seoul metropolitan area, concentrating placements around existing innovation cities, and linking them with local universities and industries have been presented as directions for implementation.
Therefore, the point to monitor now is not only which region receives how many institutions. It is important to see how the institutions subject to relocation, site selection, and methods of linkage with local universities and industries are incorporated into the plan. Wonju’s forum is also at the stage of preparing policy materials and response tasks ahead of the government’s decision.
Innovation cities are already-developed spaces. The success or failure of the second relocation will depend not on the fact that institutions have moved, but on how much lasting regional impact is created through cooperation with local companies, talent development, and the settlement of young people.
References
Tags #InnovationCities #NationalInnovationCityCouncil #YoonByungtae #Naju #SecondRelocationOfPublicInstitutions #RelocationOfPublicInstitutionsToLocalAreas #GangwonInnovationCity #Wonju #RegionalGrowth #BalancedDevelopment #LocalTalent #ResidentialConditions