Funds for Balanced Regional Development to Be Raised

The ruling and opposition parties agreed to raise and run tentatively the fund of one trillion won for the dissolution of the negative regional sentiment and the balanced regional development between the capital area and the other provincial areas.

In the Economic Policy Consultation Meeting, both parties shared the necessity to dissolve the negative regional sentiment and the unbalanced development that have been deepened. And they came to an agreement to raise the fund by legislating the special law for the balanced regional development in the regular session of the National Assembly.

Both ruling and opposition parties plan to tune up the differences on the fund raising method between both parties and between related departments and offices via the meeting between the chairpersons of policy committee or the policy consultation meeting.

Concerning the fund raising, the Ministry of Finance and Economy maintained that the fund should be assigned to central government and the local governments by the ratio of 50: 50. But the Ministry of the Government Administration and Home Affairs asserted that the burdens of the local governments should be lowered, considering the financial hardship of the local governments.

Kim Man-Je, a chairperson of the policy committee of the Grand National Party, told that ``it is likely that the central government and the local governments share the fund by the ratio of 70:30.``

Kim Jeong-Hun jnghn@donga.com