South Chungcheong Province Governor Kim Tae-heum delivers a keynote speech during the local government's event to encourage more people to have children at South Chungcheong Provincial Office Culture Center in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, May 14. Courtesy of South Chungcheong Provincial Office

South Chungcheong Province Gov. Kim Tae-heum promised the voters to become a "salesperson" for the province when he ran for office two years ago, pledging to revitalize the region's sluggish economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged outflow of its young population.

Rather than clinging only to the Korean market, the governor looked abroad to find more venturous partners interested in the region's potential since he was elected to the post.

"It was a long journey," Kim said in a written interview with The Korea Times.

"I have flown about 120,000 kilometers to visit 38 cities in 18 countries since I assumed the office. The distance is equivalent to traveling around the earth three times, all in the pursuit of finding ideal partners for South Chungcheong Province."

Growing investment from abroad

In May, Kim visited the 2024 Viva Technology, Europe's largest start-up and technology show where 160,000 people from 160 countries visited. He also participated in the Korea Expo event that opened two days after Viva Technology's opening event in the same venue at Paris Porte de Versailles in France.

Through the two events, Kim hosted 61 meetings with venture capital, retail investors, and tech firms. He said the provincial office managed to bag a total of $3 million in investments in South Chungcheong Province as well as clinch export deals worth $340,000 for the region's local companies.

Last month, Kim also visited the Netherlands to strengthen the province's foothold in export, attract investment and learn about the country's advanced smart farming technology.

The South Chungcheong Province attracted 312 billion won ($240 million) investment jointly from smart farming giant SHS and cold chain logistics solution provider Newcold on June 13.

He also visited the GreenTech Amsterdam, the world's largest agriculture technology exhibition, with officials of small- and medium-sized firms in the province to introduce his plan to foster smart farming technologies at the Chungnam Global Horti Complex.

Built on a 75.8-hectare site, the complex is Korea's largest smart farming cluster.

During the exhibition, Kim also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Netherlands' largest agriculture tech institution Wageningen University for the two sides' cooperation to advance smart agriculture in South Chungcheong Province.

The Netherlands' Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Special Envoy Frederik Vossenaar also joined the signing ceremony on the day.

South Chungcheong Province Governor Kim Tae-heum, center, poses with officials of European smart farming giant SHS duing a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony in the Netherlands, June 13. Courtesy of South Chungcheong Provincial Office

Urban air mobility to power economy

Separate from South Chungcheong's efforts in attracting investment and introducing smart farming technology, the governor said it has chosen urban air mobility (UAM) and advanced air mobility (AAM) as the region's future growth engine.

"These are the technologies to boost the region's economy for up to 100 years," said Kim.

"The provincial office is expected to invest 250 billion won until 2031 to build a national defense research center for future aerospace. The project will launch as soon as we pass the preliminary feasibility."

Separate from the research center, the provincial was also selected to build a national test site for UAM-AAM parts. Kim added it will invest a total of 32 billion won for five years until 2028 for the project.

"The two sites will definitely contribute to the country's future aerospace technologies," Kim said.

"Both are expected to be built near Cheonsu Bay in Taean County. We will also closely cooperate with Hanseo University, the nation's only academic institute with a runway and aerial facilities like a control tower."

Chungcheong megacity

Building an integrated megacity somewhere in the country's central region has been a banner headline for years.

Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province have already signed an agreement to integrate their administrative systems by 2026. And Chungcheong Provinces and major cities close by are also looking for something similar.

The effort aims to disperse the dense population and concentrated industrial infrastructure in the metropolitan Seoul area while enhancing the competitiveness of provinces and regional cities by increasing population and economic resources.

Encompassing Daejeon, Sejong, North and South Chungcheong provinces, the Chungcheong area is now pressing its plan to establish a special local government as a preliminary step toward administrative integration.

This special local government would unite the administrative areas of the four cities and provinces, setting the stage for eventual full integration.

"Once fully integrated, the population of the Chungcheong megacity is estimated to reach 5.6 million, equivalent to Denmark's," Kim said.

"This is the minimum demographic scale required to attract top-tier colleges and conglomerates to the city. Once they move to the city, it will generate jobs while rejuvenating the regional economy."

In January last year, four local governments in the Chungcheong area dispatched 37 officials to establish a task force for an integrated administrative system.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has recently granted conditional approval to the project. Each municipal assembly is expected to vote on it in September. With their approval, the Chungcheong area is expected to have one integrated administrative system to process 21 municipal works of today's four local governments by December.

South Chungcheong Province Governor Kim Tae-heum, left, poses with Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon during the Bay Valley Megacity Seminar in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, March 13. Courtesy of South Chungcheong Provincial Office

Tourism

The 61-year-old governor stressed that tourism can be another growth engine for South Chungcheong Province.

"There is literally everything here," Kim said. "South Chungcheong offers leisure, historic sightseeing and relaxation all together."

The provincial office designated 2025 and 2026 as South Chungcheong's "visit years" to renovate the region's tourist industry and strengthen its sustainable competitiveness.

"We aim to host annually 50 million visitors by 2026," said the governor. "To achieve the goal, it is important to make South Chungcheong a place you want to visit over and over again."

In a bid to attract foreign visitors, the provincial office said it has partnered with local travel agencies and will enhance its ties with foreign social media influencers.

Attracting foreign students

Separate from its booming tourism, Kim expressed his regrets over the decline in the number of new enrollments at the region's colleges. He said these colleges are now overcoming the crisis by attracting foreign students.

According to the South Chungcheong Provincial Office, the number of foreign students in the region has surged from 7,980 in 2021 to 10,935 in 2023.

"The problem is that most of them were found to have returned to their home countries due to high hurdles in landing a job and visa here," the governor said.

"It is crucial to provide a more accommodating job landing environment for them. We also consider implementing a series of bold visa incentives for foreign students when they get a job here, but our plan requires the justice ministry's approval."

Kim said he would meet the justice minister in the near future to ask whether the central government could ease visa barriers. He added the provincial office will grant the special long-term F-2-R visa for those foreigners who get a job in the area with population decline as soon as they get approval from the justice ministry.

South Chungcheong Province Governor Kim Tae-heum / Courtesy of South Chungcheong Provincial Office

Who is Kim Tae-heum?

Kim has been the governor of South Chungcheong Province since 2022.

Born in Boryeong of the province, Kim majored in trade at the Konkuk University. He became involved in politics shortly after his graduation in 1990.

In 2012, Kim was elected as a lawmaker of the then Grand National Party, a predecessor of the current People Power Party, in the electoral district of Boryeong-Seochon. He served three consecutive terms as a lawmaker until 2022.

He resigned from the lawmaker position in 2022 to run for governor of his hometown.

Winning 468,658 votes, or 53.87 percent, in the 2022 local election, Kim became the 39th governor of the province.