Nearly half of new jobs in 2013-23 concentrated in Seoul's satellite cities: study

A study by a government-affiliated think tank showed Friday that the South Korean economy added 3.31 million new jobs between 2013 and 2023, 46.8 percent of which were created in the satellite cities near Seoul that have undergone large-scale urbanization since the turn of the century.

The report by the Korea Employment Information Service found that of the top 20 cities and counties across the country where jobs increased in that time span, 12 were planned cities in Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the capital, and particularly in cities in the southern part of the region such as Suwon, Hwaseong, Yongin and Siheung.

Regions outside the greater Seoul region that saw significant increases in jobs included Naju in South Jeolla Province, Wanju-gun in North Jeolla Province, and the special self-governing city of Sejong, home to the administrative capital that houses the country's largest government complex.

South Korea has launched a series of planned city projects across the country, most of which were concentrated in Gyeonggi Province. Many of them double as commuter towns for Seoul, which is why a substantial part of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway system connects the surrounding cities in Gyeonggi to Seoul.

Imbalance grows between the Greater Seoul area and other regions

The report showed that job growth increased among both the general population and youth in the central region, specifically in the Greater Seoul region and the adjacent Chungcheong Provinces.

Sejong, located some 120 kilometers from Seoul, saw the largest increase in jobs for young workers during the 10 years, at 245.6 percent, followed by Hanam city in Gyeonggi Province (113.5 percent), Gyeryong city in South Chungcheong Province (84.1 percent), and Gimpo (83.3 percent) and Hwaseong (74.9 percent), both in Gyeonggi Province. The report used data from Statistics Korea, which categorizes youth as people between 19 and 34 years of age.

The five regions that saw the steepest drop in youth jobs were all in the southern regions: 70.0 percent in Sunchang-gun in North Jeolla Province, 65.8 percent in Hadong-gun of South Gyeongsang Province, 64.1 percent in Boseong-gun of South Jeolla Province, 60 percent in Hapcheon-gun of South Gyeongsang Province, and 58.9 percent in Goseong-gun of South Gyeongsang Province.

Researchers noted a clear trend of an increase in young workers in the capital region, alongside significant declines in regions already suffering from shrinking populations. This includes cities in the Gyeongsang and Jeolla regions with large-scale industrial complexes.

The study also showed significant wage differences between the capital region and other areas, with nine of the top 10 regions with the highest average wages being located in the Greater Seoul region. The only region in the top 10 outside the capital area was Sejong.

Sejong, whose status was raised from county-level town to city in 2012, has witnessed significant growth in its population and infrastructure due to an influx of people coinciding with the construction of the government complex there.

The study's lead researcher, Lee Sang-ho, said government policy should focus on improving the quality of jobs in regions farther from Seoul to appeal to younger people. This includes balancing the "soft infrastructure" -- referring to the human capital and institutions that provide certain services, such as education, health care, financial institutions and government offices -- with "hard infrastructure" such as the power grid, industrial clusters and transportation networks.