Solidarity for Completing Innovation Cities... Naju, Jeonju, and Jinju Take Joint Action

Three Innovation City Local Governments Hold Joint Resolution Rally at the National Assembly
"Strengthening the Functions of Existing Innovation Cities Is Essential for Achieving Balanced Development"

Naju City in South Jeolla Province, Jeonju City in North Jeolla Province, and Jinju City in South Gyeongsang Province have jointly called for priority relocation of public institutions to the existing innovation cities, as part of efforts to successfully implement the second phase of public institution relocations from the Seoul metropolitan area and to achieve balanced national development.

Naju City announced on the 17th that, together with Jeonju City and Jinju City, it held the "2nd Joint Resolution Rally for the Relocation of Public Institutions" at the 2nd Small Conference Room of the National Assembly Members' Office Building the previous day.

This rally was organized as a follow-up event to the 2026 Innovation City Coexistence Awards ceremony for local governments, with Naju City receiving the grand prize, Jeonju City the top excellence award, and Jinju City the excellence award. About 20 officials from the three local governments attended the event and announced a joint position on the direction of the second phase of public institution relocations.

The three local governments agreed that the second phase of public institution relocations from the Seoul metropolitan area should be carried out in a way that preserves the purpose of establishing innovation cities and maintains the continuity of the balanced national development policy.

Naju City held a joint resolution rally for the second phase of public institution relocation on the 16th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, jointly with Jeonju City and Jinju City.
[Photo by Naju City]

In particular, they argued that the existing innovation cities, which have already expanded urban infrastructure such as transportation, education, and housing through the first phase of public institution relocations and have established industry-academia-research cooperation systems and related industrial ecosystems, should be given priority consideration for the second phase, taking into account these infrastructures and functional connections.

Through their joint resolution, the three local governments made it clear that "the second phase of public institution relocations should be directed to the existing innovation cities," urging the government and the National Assembly to prioritize assigning institutions slated for relocation to these innovation cities. They also agreed to strengthen mutual cooperation so that innovation cities can serve as key hubs for balanced national development and to jointly respond by developing regional development strategies linked to additional public institution relocations.

Byungtae Yoon, Mayor of Naju, emphasized, "Innovation cities were established as a key policy tool to achieve balanced national development, so the second phase of public institution relocations should also be promoted in a way that enhances and completes the functions of the existing innovation cities."

He added, "Naju City, together with Jeonju City and Jinju City, will further strengthen joint responses and cooperation to address the crisis of regional extinction and to achieve substantial balanced development."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.