Gyeonggi Province has formally requested the government to establish criteria for designating northern border areas in the Seoul metropolitan region as Opportunity Development Zones.
Kim Dae-soon, Second Vice Governor for Administration of Gyeonggi Province, visited the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development on Monday to explain the need for designating northern Gyeonggi border areas as Opportunity Development Zones and urged the establishment of metropolitan area guidelines.
Opportunity Development Zones are a core government policy for balanced regional development. Designated zones receive tax benefits including reductions in acquisition tax, property tax, income tax, corporate tax, and capital gains tax. Regulatory benefits such as expedited regulatory confirmation, demonstration exceptions, and temporary permits also apply.
In the Seoul metropolitan area, regions eligible include population-declining areas or border areas under the Special Act on Support for Border Areas. Eight cities and counties in Gyeonggi Province qualify: Gimpo, Goyang, Paju, Yangju, Pocheon, Dongducheon, Yeoncheon, and Gapyeong.
The problem is that while the legal basis exists in the Framework Act on Local Autonomy Decentralization and Balanced Regional Development, implementation criteria are absent. The law explicitly allows metropolitan areas to apply for zone designation if they are population-declining or border regions.
However, the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development has not established specific criteria, making applications impossible.
"Northern Gyeonggi border areas such as Yeoncheon and Pocheon have remained underdeveloped for extended periods due to overlapping regulations including the Seoul Metropolitan Area Readjustment Planning Act, military facility protection zones, and development restriction zones," Kim said. "They cannot even apply simply because they are in the metropolitan area."
"These regions have endured sacrifices for over 70 years in the name of national security," he added. "We urge active consideration so that northern Gyeonggi border areas can be designated as Opportunity Development Zones, taking these special circumstances into account."