Democratic Party counterproposes '5-pole megacity,' says it will start with Line 5 extension

Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, holds a press conference on the private economy at the party\'s representative office in the National Assembly on Feb. 2. Park Min-kyu Senior Reporter

The Democratic Party of Korea countered the People's Power's "Mega Seoul" initiative on Feb. 2 with a reverse proposal for a "megacity" (super regional special local government) policy that would divide the country into five regions. It wants to diversify the unipolar system of the Seoul metropolitan area into a five-polar system through megacities in Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam, Chungcheongbuk-do, Gwangju-Jeonnam, Daegu-Gyeongbuk. The Democratic Party proposed exempting Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province from the preliminary feasibility study, saying that it is more urgent to extend Seoul Subway Line 5 to relieve transportation inconvenience for Gimpo citizens than to incorporate the city into Seoul.

The Democratic Party's largest opinion group, The Better Future (The Future), called for the people's power at a press conference at the National Assembly on the same day, saying, "Don't try to turn the tide by declaring a 'Seoul black hole,' but consider a true regional era." "Stop making an all-or-nothing announcement that you will live only in Seoul at the expense of the provinces," the group said.

"The megacity discussion is not about Seoul, which is sucking everything in like a black hole, but about Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam, Chungcheong, Daegu, Gyeongbuk, and Honam, where opportunities should be evenly distributed," said The Mirae. "We need to implement a balanced development plan for the five regions, starting with the Pusan-Ulsan-Gyeonggi megacity," The Future said, urging, "Let's discuss urban and spatial planning for the entire metropolitan area first."

Hong Ik-pyo, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, also said on CBS Radio the day before, "I will propose a comprehensive administrative reform and discuss it with the ruling party."

The Democratic Party criticized the NPP's policy of concentrating development in the metropolitan area and proposed a discussion on balanced development of the national territory. It seems that they intend to take the lead in the issue by reversing the atmosphere of the NPP's push for Gimpo's inclusion in Seoul. In particular, building a megacity was one of the 120 national tasks of the Yoon Seok-yul government and a presidential pledge of Lee Jae-myung.

In his speech to the National Assembly bargaining group in September, Lee said, "We will diversify the one-pole system of the metropolitan area into a five-pole system and reorganize it into a five-pole three-special system by making Jeju, Gangwon, and Jeonbuk special autonomous regions."

The Democratic Party of Korea said that the extension of Seoul Subway Line 5 is more urgent than the incorporation of Gimpo City into Seoul. At a policy coordination meeting in the National Assembly on the same day, Hong said, "The transportation problem that Gimpo residents are facing is very difficult," adding, "If the government brings a proposal for exemption from taxes, we will handle it in this regular session of the National Assembly and help the extension of Subway Line 5 to be implemented immediately next year."

He declined to comment on whether he supports or opposes Gimpo's inclusion in Seoul. "Discussions on reorganizing the administrative structure for balanced development of the country should be held first," Choi Hye-young, a spokeswoman for the ruling party, said at the briefing, adding, "We don't want to be surprised by what the ruling party is doing." Asked about the pros and cons of Gimpo's incorporation into Seoul at the press conference, Lee said, "It is not appropriate for the people's power to focus on how to incorporate Gimpo into Seoul. The fate of 50 million South Koreans is at stake, and the national government must be serious, cautious and strict," he said, avoiding an immediate answer.