The 10th Central–Local Cooperation Council was held on August 26, 2026, in the Chungmu Room of the Blue House. President Lee Jae-myung chaired the meeting, which was described as the first Central–Local Cooperation Council held since the launch of the ninth elected local-government administration. According to a Blue House briefing, the meeting was attended by 16 metropolitan and provincial governors, including Park Chan-dae, mayor of Incheon and chair of the Governors’ Association of Korea.
Key Changes
The meeting focused on establishing a more concrete cooperation structure between the central and local governments and enabling regions to lead their own growth strategies. Participants discussed cooperation measures between the central and local governments under the ninth elected administration and plans to promote locally led growth. They also addressed plans to foster regional growth engines linked to three mega-projects, along with the direction of fiscal investment for balanced local growth.
President Lee described the central and local governments as partners and members of a shared community of destiny, emphasizing one-team cooperation between the center and the regions. The meeting’s official message went beyond simply defining the relationship, pointing toward cooperation and growth as ways to respond to regional imbalances across the country.
The key phrase repeatedly confirmed at the meeting was the cooperation framework that “the central and local governments are one team.”
Current Status
A joint announcement by the relevant ministries presented a national transformation strategy to redesign regional industries and institutions under the leadership of local governments. The strategy consists of three major pillars: redesigning national territorial space, fostering strategic industries by region, and creating the foundations for local vitality. Eight major tasks were presented under these three strategies.
The meeting’s agenda also included a plan to foster growth engines by region under the “5 Hubs, 3 Special Regions” framework. The expression appeared in the context of connecting regional growth directions at the broader-area level. However, the announced strategy should be distinguished from the confirmation of budgets, detailed schedules, and project launches that may follow. What is currently confirmed is that policy directions and implementation strategies were presented at the meeting.
Impact
The direction presented at the meeting can be summarized as a plan for local governments to take the lead in designing regional industries and institutions while working with the central government to establish region-specific growth foundations. Since cooperation measures between the central and local governments and the direction of fiscal investment were discussed together, the policy focus covers both the role of local governments and the development of industries by region.
The Busan case was presented within this broader context. According to a News1 report, Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo presented a strategy to develop Busan into an international maritime business hub. The strategy included helping companies and talent settle in the city, attracting maritime-related companies, and creating a multifunctional hub at Busan North Port.
Busan’s presentation illustrates how a nationwide vision of locally led growth can connect with regional strategies. However, there was no confirmed information indicating that corporate relocations, project costs, or construction start dates had been finalized.
Next Checkpoints
The next point to watch is how the policy directions presented at the meeting are developed into detailed regional projects and fiscal investment plans. Follow-up details on the national transformation strategy and the regional growth engines under the “5 Hubs, 3 Special Regions” framework should be checked through joint announcements by the relevant ministries and official announcements from the local governments involved.
In Busan’s case, it is also necessary to monitor how the strategy’s goals—helping companies and talent settle in the city, attracting maritime-related companies, and creating a multifunctional North Port hub—develop into follow-up plans. The fact currently confirmed in public materials is that Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo presented the strategy at the meeting.
Interpretations appearing alongside related search terms, such as “reduced live-streamed communication” or “message management amid a decline in approval ratings,” were not confirmed as the official purpose or outcome of the meeting. It is therefore appropriate to examine the meeting primarily through its confirmed agenda items, remarks, and policy announcements.