BUSAN — Busan Metropolitan City and the Busan chapter of the Democratic Party of Korea are launching full-scale cooperation to resolve long-standing regional projects, including the on-schedule opening of Gadeokdo New Airport, a second round of relocating public agencies out of the capital region, and converting Baptist Hospital into a public hospital, as well as to secure state funding for 2027.
According to the city on the 9th, Mayor Jeon Jae-soo met that day at Busan City Hotel with Park Hong-bae, chairman of the party's Busan chapter, and district chapter chairs to discuss major municipal issues and ways to secure state funding for next year.
Nine core issues were put on the table, including pushing forward the second round of public agency relocation, opening Gadeokdo New Airport on schedule, converting Baptist Hospital into a public hospital, and building a safe drinking water supply system. The city and the party chapter agreed to flesh out action plans for each issue and strengthen a joint response to the central government and the National Assembly to break through obstacles to the projects.
Securing state funding for next year was the central agenda item. The two sides agreed to strengthen party-government cooperation to have 17 major projects reflected in the state budget, covering the artificial intelligence transformation of industry, future research and development, and port and urban innovation.
The major projects include establishing a National Quantum Innovation Center, a total-care AX platform linking physical AI with regional care services, a blockchain creative district, a marine and port AX demonstration center, a next-generation power semiconductor production platform, and a convergence support center for AI-based biomaterial process innovation.
Projects aimed at raising the city's competitiveness were also included among the state funding targets, such as the AI transformation of the Busan Eco Delta Smart City national pilot city and the development of a specialized smart city complex. The city views these as core projects that will simultaneously drive the growth of future industries and urban innovation, and plans to actively pursue budget increases and new allocations during the National Assembly's budget deliberations.
The party-government meeting also marks the establishment of a standing cooperation framework between the city and the party chapter for resolving major issues since the mayor took office. The idea is that regional issues will not be pursued at the municipal level alone — the party chapter will serve as a channel connecting the National Assembly and the central government, backing up budgets and regulatory improvements for each project.
"We will carefully review the tasks for securing state funding in 2027 to firmly support the municipal vision of Busan as a maritime capital," Park said. "We will actively secure the budgets needed so that major long-awaited projects can pick up speed, and we will unblock what has been stalled."
The mayor also stressed party-government cooperation. "The clear solution to moving beyond a system centered solely on the capital region and creating a new growth axis for Korea is to complete Busan as a maritime capital, so that Busan leads a new era of the global maritime economy," Jeon said. "I hope the city and the Democratic Party's Busan chapter will join hands in resolving Busan's long-standing issues and securing state funding for next year, to generate an even stronger tailwind toward Busan as a maritime capital."
The city plans to reinforce the rationale for each major state-funded project and expand cooperation with local lawmakers as the National Assembly's budget review moves into full swing. It also plans to speed up large-scale projects such as Gadeokdo New Airport and the second round of public agency relocation by linking them to the central government's policy direction.
