Regional Policy and National Development in Korea

Abstract

This paper analyzes regional and decentralization policy in Korea since 1970s. Each administration in the last 40 years has taken a distinctive approach to regional and decentralizaton policy. The 1970s and 1980s featured a highly centralized system that local administrations contributed to by following central directives and mandates, and the policies that emerged as a result of the Saemaeul movement were important in addressing rural poverty under the Park administration. During the 1990s under the Kim Young-sam and the Kim Daejung administrations, regional policy amounted to regional even-development, and decentralization policy came to underpin regional policy. The Noh administration was the most active in developing simultaneous regional even-development and decentralization policies. The Lee administration changed the equity-oriented direction of the regional policy pursued by the Noh administration to an efficiency-oriented one. The regional policies discussed in this paper have been amended over time and in line with different political and economic circumstances in an attempt to generate relationships between the central government and local governments that will enable the country to achieve national goals in an efficient and effective way.