Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Strengthen Regional Cooperation to Build a New Growth Axis

Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang are moving to strengthen cooperation across the southeastern region, including by activating a permanent consultative body.

Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo, Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-wook and South Gyeongsang Governor Park Wan-soo adopted a joint declaration at the fourth Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Policy Council meeting on the 8th. The council serves as the top decision-making body of the three regions’ super-regional economic alliance, launched in July 2023.

Under the declaration, the regions will prepare a roadmap for cooperation in industry, transport, daily life and administration. They will work on 12 strategic tasks in three areas, including a super-regional development strategy, a joint growth-engine plan based on the “five hubs and three special regions” framework, and a joint response to the second relocation of public institutions.

The economic strategy will expand the competitiveness of regional industries across the wider economy, focusing on advanced shipbuilding and shipping, future mobility and innovative manufacturing, aerospace and defense, and next-generation nuclear power and energy. The regions also plan to strengthen functional coordination and connections between major hubs and expand shared access to daily services to create a single living zone.

The three governments will form a joint team to secure national funding during the review of the government budget and major national plans in the second half of the year. Priority projects include southeastern regional railways, the Busan-Yangsan-Ulsan regional railway, the Chojeong-Hwamyeong regional road, a regional bus rapid transit system and a joint tourism belt. The leaders said they would continue discussing administrative integration, as they still disagree over the method. Park supports a roadmap targeting integration around the April 2028 parliamentary elections, while Jeon and Kim favor restoring a special regional union, or megacity model.