Signal Capital-region concentration persists after two decades of dispersal policy, with the non-capital value added share down to 48 percent

Summary

The share of national value added produced outside the capital region has fallen from 51 percent to 48 percent. Headquarters, R&D and services have gathered in the capital region, locking the regions into production-centred structures that suffer periodic industrial crises. Spatial dispersal policies from 2003 to 2016, including Sejong City, innovation cities and the relocation of 153 public institutions, expanded the regional base without changing that division of functions. From 2017 to 2024 the focus moved to urban regeneration, neighbourhood infrastructure, metropolitan transport and decentralisation, yet digital transformation reinforced the capital region's advantage. Since 2025 a super-regional growth strategy built on five poles and three special zones has been introduced, but concentration of GRDP and employment in the capital region continues.