Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo personally sought to secure state funding for the city's key projects Wednesday, meeting Park Hong-keun, minister of the Ministry of Planning and Budget, at Government Complex Sejong to make a strong case for national budget support.
The visit aimed to advance Jeon's newly set municipal vision — "Busan as a maritime capital at the center of a great future transformation" — and to have critical growth initiatives included preemptively in the government's 2027 budget proposal.
At the meeting, Jeon emphasized that Busan serves as an innovation hub to drive the future economy and a central pillar of balanced national development. He called for the government's full cooperation on key projects he said must be included in next year's budget to achieve the city's four urban goals.
Jeon requested four new projects: the Busan Port Physical AI Transformation Demonstration Project (16 billion won, $10.8 million), a flagship initiative to lead AI-driven advanced transformation; the Five-Pole Three-Special Shipbuilding and Maritime Growth Engine Initiative (30 billion won), aimed at completing Busan's status as a global AI shipbuilding and maritime capital; the Next-Generation Power Semiconductor Full-Cycle Production Platform Construction project (21.6 billion won), to build a core ecosystem for advanced strategic industries; and the Domestic Composite Material-Based Next-Generation Aircraft Large Fuselage Technology Development project (6.8 billion won), to secure a leading position in the future aviation industry.
He also urged the government to pay particular attention to and provide state funding for the timely completion of an ongoing project — the Development and Demonstration of a New Research Reactor for Export (152.8 billion won) — which is set to advance regional medical technology.
"The projects I am proposing today are the cornerstones for Busan to grow into a maritime capital, complete its vision as a city of balanced growth where anyone can live well, and become a city of civic happiness where everyone is healthy," Jeon said. "I will work closely with the Ministry of Planning and Budget and central government ministries to secure the necessary state funding and momentum, so that citizens can feel in their daily lives that Busan is once again running toward the world and toward tomorrow."
kaf2002@heraldcorp.com
