Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party presidential candidate, outlined plans on the 26th to enhance regional competitiveness by focusing on the four major metropolitan areas: Chungcheong (Daejeon, Sejong, North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong), Daegu and North Gyeongsang, Gwangju and South Jeolla, and Busan-Ulsan-North Gyeongsang.
He also emphasized expanding the GTX (Metropolitan Express Railway) into the four major metropolitan areas as one of his achievements to extend transportation infrastructure, which is concentrated in the metropolitan area, to the regions.
Additionally, he plans to establish 'National AI Supercomputing Centers' in each metropolitan area hub to enhance the competitiveness of the nation, regions, corporations, and research institutions.
He proposed an incentive that temporarily exempts capital gains tax for metropolitan residents who dispose of their existing dwellings and relocate to non-metropolitan areas for more than 15 years.
On that day, Kim visited the People Power Party's Chungcheongnam-do headquarters in Cheonan and announced '20 pledges for the era of local autonomy,' which include these key points.
He also presented a plan to specify in the Constitution that 'the Republic of Korea is a decentralized state' and significantly transfer core powers such as local legislative rights, local financial rights, and local planning rights to local governments to strengthen decentralization.
He promised to expand the scale of the Balanced Development Special Account, a funding source for revitalizing local areas, from 14.7 trillion won based on 2025 to an annual size of 30 trillion won.
Completing the administrative capital is a major pledge. The plan is to complete the National Assembly building and the presidential second office in Sejong early and to promote the transfer of central administrative agencies remaining in the metropolitan area to Sejong to enhance the functionalities of the administrative capital.
In addition, he stated that he would confirm the transfer of over 600 public institutions, including the Supreme Court, Board of Audit and Inspection, Constitutional Court, and the National Election Commission, within one year of taking office and significantly increase the hiring of local talent.
In the education sector, he mentioned plans to integrate national universities in non-metropolitan areas into a 'one national university per region' system and operate a joint degree program with Seoul National University to enhance the competitiveness of regional universities. He also aims to innovate the local education environment by easing regulations on the establishment of foreign educational institutions and international schools.
To strengthen local healthcare infrastructure, he promised to establish medical services at the level of the top five hospitals in the metropolitan area regionally, and to newly designate and expand economic free zones in Incheon, Daejeon-Sejong, Gyeonggi, South Chungcheong, and Yangsan nationwide. He also plans to promote the enactment of the 'Special Law on the Development of the Southern Coast,' which aims to systematically develop the coastal areas of Busan, South Gyeongsang, and South Jeolla and the adjacent inland.
Kim emphasized, 'I will actively respond to the growth crisis, integration crisis, and extinction crisis facing regions to achieve balanced development without discrimination no matter where in Korea one lives.'