President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a ceremony to promote North Jeolla Province to Jeonbuk State at a cultural center in its capital Jeonju on Thursday. (Yonhap)

A new law to elevate North Jeolla Province to Jeonbuk State came into effect on Thursday, giving the region the autonomy to foster new industries in the field of agricultural biotechnology, the silver economy and the K-pop industry, as well as burgeoning technologies related to batteries and autonomous mobility.

President Yoon Suk Yeol hailed Jeonbuk State's elevation by a special law promulgated in December as the momentum needed for rebalancing national growth -- one of his policy focal points -- as the conservative leader visited the opposition stronghold three months ahead of the general election. Jeonbuk is a Korean abbreviation of "North Jeolla."

With Jeonbuk State's promotion, the local government holds most of the decision-making power in terms of establishing a complex for industries enshrined in the special law. It does not need to get approvals from the central government for projects such as those that require an environmental impact assessment.

"From now on, Jeonbuk State will completely change in every aspect," Yoon told some 2,000 in attendance at a ceremony to celebrate the launch of the state.

"The rebalanced growth of South Korea is key to addressing unnecessary and excessive competition rampant in society, so as to tackle the problems stemming from the population decline and low birth rate. ... For the future of South Korea, the launch of Jeonbuk State must bear fruit."

Yoon also pledged policy support for the independent growth of agro-biotechnology, as the region has long been home to South Korea's largest rice paddies, as well as the convergence of biotechnologies, autonomous mobility and secondary batteries.

"Special industries based on the unique assets here will spur the exponential economic growth of the region," Yoon said.

With the addition, South Korea is now home to three special self-governing provinces -- two of which are dubbed "States." Jeju Island was rebranded in 2006, and Gangwon Province was given state status in June 2023. In 2012, the de facto administrative capital of Sejong was also given a similar status by becoming a special self-governing city.

Encompassing some 8,000 square kilometers of land with its capital Jeonju nearly 200 kilometers south of Seoul, the region has long remained underdeveloped and suffered an aging population coupled with a continued exodus of young generations.

"The North Jeolla region has long been left ostracized and discriminated against," Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said in a statement. "The national capacity for development gathered in the Greater Seoul area, while North Jeolla's failed inclusion in a metropolitan area of adjacent cities has left its 11 cities and counties altogether subject to population decline."

Meanwhile, a new K-pop college and eased immigration rules with the launch of Jeonbuk State are set to come into focus, as foreign nationals living in the region rose by nearly 60 percent over a decade until 2022.

Under the changed rules, eased immigration policies can be devised for those employed at institutions or companies dedicated to the bioscience industry, cultural content and hiking tourism, after the special zone was created within Jeonbuk State.

A tertiary education institution dedicated to K-pop-related business will also be established.

"The government will fully support the future growth drivers ... including an international K-pop college. ... Eased immigration rules for foreigners will be introduced earlier than other regions," Yoon said.

The birth of the new "state" is expected to offer the region fresh momentum for growth after it suffered widespread criticism over its lack of preparation as the host of the World Scout Jamboree in July 2023, according to observers. The failed operation and surrounding controversies sparked a political blame game and clouded the prospects for the region's growth propelled by the reclaimed land of Saemangeum.