The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will execute the largest social overhead capital (SOC) budget in history during the first half of this year to open an era of competitive local development. The plan is to early execute about 12 trillion won, which is approximately 70% of the annual SOC budget, including 4.2 trillion won for roads and 4.1 trillion won for railways.
On the 13th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced its '2025 work plan' containing this information under the theme 'Creating a comfortable daily life for the people and a better tomorrow.'
To support the recovery of the regional economy, about 12 trillion won, which is approximately 70% of the annual SOC budget, will be executed in the first half of this year. In particular, a ministry official noted that they would start early execution of funds, including 2.5 trillion won for roads and 2.1 trillion won for railways in the first quarter.
Considering the annual SOC execution results declared by the ministry, in 2022, 12 trillion won was executed out of an annual budget of 21 trillion won (59% of the total), 12 trillion won out of 19 trillion won (65%) in 2023, and 14 trillion won out of 20 trillion won (73%) last year. This year, the plan is to execute 12 trillion won in the first half out of an annual SOC budget of approximately 17 trillion won, marking the largest execution of 70% of the annual budget in history for the first half.
To achieve balanced development of the territory, the plan is to foster eight competitive economic and living zones. Regional authorities will sequentially establish regional economic and living zone plans within this year and expand administrative and financial support in conjunction with national plans such as the national comprehensive plan, national railway network construction plan, and national road network plan.
Growth hubs that will drive regional economic growth will also be expanded. The Yongin semiconductor national industrial complex, for which the industrial complex plan was approved at the end of last year, is expected to begin the site compensation process. Infrastructure development through road construction contracts will be pursued without disruption, and plans to develop 14 new national industrial complexes in local areas will also be specified.
To utilize the greenbelt as a foundation for job creation, regional strategic projects will be selected in seven regions nationwide, including the metropolitan area, in February. This is to assist in developing the greenbelt into industrial complexes. Last year, the ministry received applications for regional strategic projects from a total of 33 locations, and the project sites are expected to be selected and announced in February.
In Sejong, an international competition for integrated design will be held to create the second presidential office and the Sejong National Assembly building. In Saemangeum, based on corporate demand, an additional 660,157 square meters of industrial land will be expanded in the national industrial complex by the second half of this year. The development plan for the second industrial complex is also expected to be established within this year.
To create each region as a single economic and living zone, the metropolitan transportation network will be continuously expanded. They plan to actively promote local metropolitan railway projects, including completing the private investment feasibility study for the Chungcheong region express railway (CTX) by the second half of this year. The opening of the Seo-Daejeon IC-Dukye 3-ga (Gyeryong) metropolitan road in December this year and the expansion of connection roads in the region, such as the Dasa-Waegwan metropolitan road, are also planned.