BUSAN — Busan Metropolitan City and its 16 districts and counties gathered for the first time since the launch of the city government's ninth elected term to share joint action plans and future growth strategies for "One Busan."
The city said on the 3rd that it would hold the Busan City-District and County Communication and Cooperation Meeting at City Hall, attended by Mayor Jeon Jae-soo and the heads of the 16 districts and counties, to strengthen the cooperation framework between the city and its local governments.
The centerpiece of the meeting is a joint declaration titled "Promise to Citizens," under which the city and the districts and counties adopt citizen well-being and Busan's development as shared goals. The mayor and the district and county heads agreed to jointly pursue five tasks — administration that puts citizen well-being first, establishing Busan as South Korea's maritime capital, reviving the local economy and ensuring public safety, making Busan a city where young people want to stay, and maintaining continuous communication and cooperation — and signed the declaration in person.
The city also shared "Busan, a Future City Opened by AI," a key pledge of the ninth elected term, with the districts and counties. It presented a plan to develop artificial intelligence and other future technologies into new growth engines, centered on the K-Maritime AI Belt, a quantum cluster in the southeastern region and a youth AI hub, and discussed cooperation measures at the local level.
The city plans to extend the initiative beyond a one-time event into on-the-ground engagement. It will carry out a series of programs including on-site visits to all 206 towns, townships and neighborhoods across the 16 districts and counties, community meals with residents, and town hall meetings in four regional zones.
"The city and the 16 districts and counties are partners moving toward a single goal of citizen well-being and Busan's development," Jeon said. "We will use this as a starting point to meet more often and communicate more closely, and to create change that citizens can feel."
