Quality of life ensured for the entire population in Korea
We are committed to drastically improving quality of life in every corner of the country by expanding welfare facilities, alleviating cultural disparity and improving education systems in 163 cities and counties nationwide. We are also dedicated to promoting an urban-rural integrated development linking among small- and medium-sized cities, and the surrounding rural villages.

• Basic quality of life to be ensured in every corner of the country

Local Area corresponds to the space of residents' everyday life, and is the basic unit for policies used to effectively promote improvement in basic quality of life for local residents.

Local Area means cities including administrative cities brought in under Article 15 of the Special Act on Establishment of Jeju Special Autonomous Municipality and Free International City; counties including those in metropolises; and two or more cities and counties which jointly set up Local Areas development plans pursuant to item2, Article 7.

This scheme aims at providing stable jobs and basic services, especially to localities remote from major metropolitan regions industrialized.

A total of 163 cities and counties, excluding autonomous districts in Seoul and other metropolises, were designated as Local Areas. They accounted for 54 percent of the nation’s population as of 2007. The proportion of the population who is 65 years or older has reached 21.6 percent but residents there still suffer from poor medical services, and water supply and drainage, among other problems.

This strategy envisions “the creation of local areas that nurture the dreams of ordinary people” by ensuring stable jobs, incomes and accommodation of everyday needs. Primarily, it seeks to provide development directions for rural villages and smaller provincial cities that have been overlooked in the nation’s metropolitan-focused development policies.

• The new administration plans to promote development policies towards providing basic services required for quality life no matter where people might live.
• The vision of Local Areas development is to create sustainable local communities by ensuring stable jobs, incomes and accommodation of everyday needs for the entire local residents.
• Policy directions are set as follows to achieve the vision: to draw up development plans considering regional characteristics, nurture specialized industries based on indigenous resources, accordingly creating incomes, and activate joint- and cooperative projects with neighboring cities and counties.
• In order to create synergy effects with Economic Regions, the linkage between rural villages and hub cities will be strengthened.