Democratic Party launches 'mega-growth' committee, vows legislative results this year

The Democratic Party of Korea formally launched its Special Committee on Mega-Projects and Regional Growth Support on Monday, aiming to spread advanced industries such as semiconductors and AI beyond the greater Seoul area and drive growth led by local regions. The party said it plans to move quickly on securing related legislation and budget allocations within the year, while also accelerating the expansion of infrastructure including power, water and permitting systems.

Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok, speaking at the committee's inaugural meeting at the National Assembly on Monday, said the panel was the most important of the 10 special bodies the party had announced under its "Mega Ten" reform initiative. "This is the most critical task — one on which the fate of the nation rests," he said.

Kim described the mega-project initiative as one designed to bring semiconductors and AI, currently concentrated in the greater Seoul area, to regional hubs in the Yeongnam, Honam and Chungcheong areas. The plan also calls for extending that reach to areas that could otherwise be left behind — including northern Gyeonggi Province and border regions of Gangwon Province — on top of the existing strategy centered on five mega-regions and three special autonomous zones.

"Nearly all of the governing party's capabilities and content related to regional growth, prepared over the past year, have been brought together here," Kim said. "The president has also said he will personally plan and take responsibility for implementation over the next four years."

Kim said the ultimate goal was to realize "Mega North Jeolla, Mega Chungcheong and Mega Gwangju-South Jeolla," and called on the committee to press forward with urgency. "I hope we renew our resolve to move with speed, deliver results and show that the Democratic Party is a party that works — and that guarantees mega-growth," he said.

The committee said it intends to produce tangible results by securing relevant legislation and budget provisions during this year's regular session of the National Assembly.

Senior Vice Chairman Rep. Lee Gwang-jae said he hoped the committee would move quickly to concrete conclusions rather than getting bogged down in talk. "I hope we work together to create something that people living in these regions can feel — a sense that change is really coming — through key legislation and budget measures before the year is out," he said.

Policy Committee Chairman Kwon Chil-seung pledged to pursue policy with precision, legislation with speed and implementation with certainty. He said the committee would swiftly overhaul the regulatory and permitting frameworks needed for semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers, and would ensure that critical infrastructure — including sites, power, water and transport networks — is put in place on schedule.

The committee also plans to foster region-specific strategic industries including biotech, future mobility, secondary batteries and robotics. Kwon said the party would use policy and institutional tools to create quality jobs for local talent, adding that it would "spare no effort to ensure that the fruits of growth are felt by all citizens — not confined to specific regions or companies."

Senior Vice Chairman Kim Kyung-soo said the combination of cross-regional policy at the supra-metropolitan level with unprecedented levels of corporate investment represented a genuinely new model of public-private cooperation. "We will build a South Korea where opportunity is open to everyone, no matter where they live," he said.

Vice Chairwoman Lee Eon-ju said the mega-growth initiative should be understood as more than a regional development policy. "It must be a national strategy — one that decides what South Korea will live on, what technologies it will protect, and which industries go where and how they connect," she said.