By Kim Jae-kyoung
Staff Reporter

South Korean students will soon be able to learn English from native speakers at high schools in West District, Inchon, as the government has decided to designate the region as a foreign language special development zone.

The decision came at a committee meeting on special development zones chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance-Economy Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday.

At the meeting, the government decided to designate six municipalities, including Inchon, as special development zones, in a move to achieve balanced regional development across the nation.

The new zones include West District in Inchon for a foreign language education center; Kumsan in South Chungchong Province for a ginseng health-care center; and Wonjoo in Kangwon Province for an advanced medical industrial center.

The others are Chechon in North Chungchong Province for an herb well-being complex; Yongyang in North Kyongsang Province for an ecology experience complex; and Sanchong in South Kyongsang Province for a herb study development center.



The central government, though not offering direct tax and fiscal incentives for these specialized zones, will ease regulations regarding land development and education in the regions, to allow local governments to accelerate regional development.

As an apparent move to develop Inchon into an international city, the government plans to establish a foreign language education center in West District by permitting the local government to hire foreigners in high schools and public agencies as a special case for immigration law for non-Koreans.

With the designation, the district will be able to host a number of English education camps for Korean students during vacations and set up a language training center on the Internet.

The government plans to transform Kumsan into an international center of ginseng circulation by designating the zone as a ginseng health-care center. Kumsan plans to host the 2006 Kumsan World Ginseng EXPO.

Also, it plans to develop Wonju into a medical equipment industrial city by attracting both domestic and foreign medical equipment manufacturers and research centers.

Yongyang will be transformed into a clean, natural tourist resort and Sanchong will become a complex of herb study with the establishment of various herb research and training centers. Chechon will be turned into a Chinese medicine-centered city

``Currently, the government is considering designating an additional 12 municipalities, including Ichon in Kyonggi Province, a candidate city for a ceramic ware center, as a special development zone,’’ a government official said.

``In order to help each municipality develop their regional quality, we plan to designate more towns as special zones,’’ he added.

The number of special development zones has now been brought up to 16.

In February, the government designated four provincial cities, including Pusan, Yosu in South Cholla Province, Iksan in North Cholla Province and Changyong in South Kyongsang Province as special development zones.

kjk@koreatimes.co.kr