(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Go Dong-wook and Hwang Yoon-ki = President Lee Jae-myung visited Busan on the occasion of the completion of the first Northern Sea Route pilot operation, and promised full support, emphasizing the 'fostering of the southern maritime metropolitan area'.
This can be interpreted as a move to reaffirm the will to unwaveringly promote balanced national development, one of the Lee Jae-myung administration's core growth strategies, while also embracing public sentiment in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (PK).
President Lee attended the welcome ceremony for the return of the Panstar Acro held in Busan on the afternoon of the 13th, congratulating the successful test operation and encouraging the hard work of the crew and officials.
In his encouraging speech, President Lee highlighted the strategic significance of developing the Northern Sea Route in light of the recent experience of facing an economic crisis due to sea routes being blocked due to the war in the Middle East.
Accordingly, they once again announced their intention to transform the PK region into a 'southern maritime metropolitan area' so that they can actively prepare for the era of the Northern Sea Route.
President Lee promised, "We will connect Busan's ports, logistics, and marine finance, Ulsan's eco-friendly energy, and Gyeongnam's shipbuilding equipment and cutting-edge manufacturing," and added, "We will allow companies from ship construction and repair, fuel supply, human resources training, finance, and insurance to grow in the region, leading to good jobs."
He also pledged, “We will further strengthen the functions of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to lead the development of the southern maritime metropolitan area,” and “We will equip ourselves with authority and policy coordination capabilities commensurate with our new responsibilities, and increase our ability to quickly resolve problems in the field.”
Prior to this, at the Cabinet meeting held at the Blue House this morning, they mentioned expansion of Busan Port infrastructure, construction of Gadeok New Airport, and maintenance of the railway logistics network, saying that they would make the southeastern region a key gateway to global logistics.
After the welcoming ceremony for returning to the port, President Lee also attended the unveiling ceremony of the headquarters of HMM, the 17th largest shipping company in the business world, which relocated to Busan, expressing his determination to support the growth of the company, which is at the forefront of revitalizing the local economy.
President Lee has repeatedly emphasized that balanced national development is an urgent task, revealing the perception that national imbalance is one of the root causes of many problems that are eroding Korea's national competitiveness.
Accordingly, in the second year of his administration, he began the promotion of large-scale projects such as three mega projects and the second relocation of public institutions to regional areas, and is interpreted as emphasizing his intention to accelerate the balanced development strategy by fostering the southern maritime metropolitan area.
At the same time, the decline in the approval rating of the government is calming down somewhat, but in a situation where an opportunity for a rebound has not yet been created, it is also interpreted as an appeal to the public in the PK region, which is a strategic area, for support for government policies.
Before reading the encouraging speech prepared at the welcoming ceremony for returning to the port, President Lee said, "I made several promises when I came to Busan, and most of them are coming true," and that "the investment project in the southeastern region will also be implemented as promised," which can be read in the same context.
In addition, after eliciting applause for Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo, a former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, he emphasized, "Busan citizens who suffered difficulties during the process of local extinction will now be able to create new hope," and added, "Our local government will also do its best for balanced development of the country."
