Seven zones plan (EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Sept. 16)

Hardly had senior Cheong Wa Dae and ruling party officials confirmed the death of the Grand Canal project, the number one campaign pledge of President Lee Myung-bak, before the administration came up with yet another grand national development plan last week.

The "seven economic zones plan" which will cost 50 trillion won
(approximately $50 billion) over the next five years, to be financed half and
half by the government and the private sector, consists of 30 individual projects
to be distributed "evenly" to seven parts of the national territory
under the theme of balanced development.

Some critics in the media and think tanks quickly pointed to the general
similarity between the Lee government's seven zones plan and the previous Roh
Moo-hyun administration's trademark "balanced regional development
plan." The latter consisted of five industrial clusters, six free economic
zones, and new homes for administrative organizations and major corporations.

Lee's 30 projects include the Saemangeum tideland development, An expansion of
Yeosu Port for the 2013 World Exposition, Yeongi-Gongju Administrative City and a
cruise port at Seogwipo, Jeju Island, all of which were initiated by the Roh
administration. There is nothing wrong for a new administration, installed by a
peaceful, democratic vote, to continue with the previous government's key public
work projects, selectively.

We may choose not to recall how vehemently the Grand National Party, when it was
in opposition, had opposed every item in the Roh administration's balanced
regional development program, especially the plan to build a new administrative
capital. Yet, even then, we find something hard to swallow in the Lee
government's "seven zones plan."

What we notice with a degree of misgiving is the lack of ingenuity and creativity
that the new government is exhibiting, especially after a liberal-to-conservative
power shift.

Under the seven zones plan, the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon region is to be developed
as a "global business hub," the Chungcheong provinces as a "Korean
Silicon Valley," the Jeolla provinces as a center of culture, arts and green
industries, the North Gyeongsang region as a center of traditional
culture-related industries, Gangwon Province as an area of tourism and medical
services and Jeju Island as an international travel destination. Most of the
individual projects -- 24 out of the total 30 -- are building highways and laying
railroads, which are justified in the name of helping local economies and
creating jobs.

Korea certainly needs more improvements to its infrastructure, but building new
roads should not be given such a high priority in national development plans.
Korea has seen more than its fair share of investments in road networks over the
past decades due to the need to sustain industrial development and particularly
to support the automobile and construction industries. The result is generally
low usage of newly-built highways except around population centers and on
national holidays such as Chuseok.

The 21st century calls for new outlook on and new priorities in development
investment. But the government's newly-conceived development plan has
unfortunately failed to present us with a refreshing vision of tomorrow, and
represented little relevance to President Lee's recently-adopted
"low-carbon, green-growth" agenda.

Fifty trillion won is a lot of money, amounting to 1 million won per capita. Our
planning officials need to ponder more seriously on how to better spend that
money, however much they may be under pressure to quickly fill the void created
by the cancellation of the Grand Canal plan.