Our top story this morning...
The South Korean government has unveiled new deregulation measures aimed at stimulating economic growth.
It normally checks to see whether... and how... big projects will impact the economy.
However, under an agreement reached on Tuesday, around two dozen large-scale projects... will be exempt from such a process.
Officials hope the move will help to help achieve balanced regional development and revitalize regional economies.
Choi Si-young reports.
Economic viability tests are conducted on projects that get more than about 26 million U.S. dollars in government funds, but for these, the government will waive the assessments... in the interest of helping less developed regions of the country catch up.
The projects are focused on two things: improving traffic and logistics networks across the country... AND nurturing regional industries.
All 23 of them together... will cost about 21 billion U.S. dollars.
Nearly half of the spending is for high-speed railway and highway construction to improve traffic and logistics networks across the country.
That includes building new railways between the Seoul metropolitan area and the southeastern Gyeongsang-do provinces.
Another high-speed railway will bridge northeastern Gangwon-do Province and the southwestern Jeolla-do provinces.
There'll also be a railway built along the east coast connecting Gangwon-do Province and Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.
Another chunk of expenses will go to projects specific to industries in each region.
The city of Gwangju will host complexes for the AI industry; the surrounding Jeolla-do provinces will get a new fish farm dedicated to exports.
To the east, the city of Ulsan will have a new public hospital for serious illnesses, and Jeju-do will modernize its sewage facilities.
Announcing these plans, the government admitted that achieving balanced regional development and revitalizing regional economies will require cooperation.
"It's highly important that we have not only the efforts of regional municipalities but also the interest of the people."
The 23 projects will be carried out though 2029.
Choi Si-young, Arirang News.
