Civic groups in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang urge solidarity over competition in second public institution relocation

Civic organizations from Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province are urging the three regions to stop competing individually for public institutions and mount a unified response ahead of the government's second round of public institution relocations.

Four groups — the Busan Citizens' Solidarity for Decentralization and Balanced Development, the Ulsan Civil Society Organizations Council, the South Gyeongsang Decentralization Alliance and the Decentralization and Balance Association — held a joint press conference Thursday morning at the Busan City Council briefing room. They argued that the second round of relocations should serve as "a stepping stone for broad regional solidarity through a joint Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang response." They also called on the government to "design relocation policy in a way that promotes supra-regional cooperation rather than stoking competition between regions."

The groups said the three regions form "a single lifestyle and economic zone, bound together by industry, logistics, ports, energy and manufacturing," and warned that excessive competition over the same or similar institutions would disperse and weaken the southeastern region's capacity to counter the concentration of resources in Greater Seoul.

They went on to say that when the location of a particular institution is critical to the overall industrial competitiveness and integrated economic zone of the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang area, the other two regions should build a cooperative model in which they actively support whichever region is best placed to attract it.

The groups said public institution relocations "must be pursued within the broader framework of building a supra-regional industrial ecosystem" across the three areas, and called for Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo, Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-uk and South Gyeongsang Governor Park Wan-su to meet promptly and launch a joint task force on the second round of relocations. They also urged the task force to coordinate in advance on overlapping or competing bids and to cooperate on selecting priority or jointly pursued institutions aligned with each region's strategic industries.

The groups also pressed the three administrations to use the second relocation round as a concrete stepping stone toward deeper integration of the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang area. With the concentration of resources in Greater Seoul continuing to intensify, they said, pursuing separate survival strategies within individual administrative boundaries offers no real solution for the three regions.