Lee vows concentrated investment in regions for region-led growth

President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday vowed to make concentrated investments in regional infrastructure, including transportation and cultural facilities, as he called for balanced territorial development and region-led growth.

The president made the commitment during a luncheon at the presidential office with newly elected mayors, county heads and district office chiefs, as well as government officials, aimed at promoting cooperation between the central and regional governments.

Lee cited overpopulation in the greater Seoul area and depopulation in regional areas as a major crisis facing Korea that threatens the country's future. "If you fail to solve these problems, Korea has no future," he said. "Only relieving this chronic capital concentration and creating an era of growth for all, where regions across the country can make leaps together, can bring us a future and hope," the president stressed.

He said the government will make "concentrated investments" in infrastructure in regional areas, including in education, transportation, cultural facilities and tourism, as part of its drive fo