The Korea Local Administration Review

Decentralization and regionally balanced-development are major parts of regional policies. A high level of centralization in Korea has led to a high level concentration of population in the capital region, which has increasingly widened disparity between the capital region and others. Policies for decentralization and regionally balanced-development are intended to focus on dealing with centralization and regional discrepancy.
As discussed in this paper, decentralization and regionally balanced-development are different in several respects: nature, content, theoretical foundation, etc. Due to their differences, it has been argued that simultaneous implementation of them are destined to bring about trade-off effect between them.
Despite of the differences between them at a glance, however, there are a few things common between them by way of analyzing components of their policies. This study shows that there are even possibilities to improve harmonious effects by carrying out decentralization and regionally balanced-development from strategic standpoints.
Strategies for creating harmony of decentralization and regionally balanced-development can be taken according to choices of combination of their policy options, policy instruments, and choices of regions in which two policies are supposed to be applied. First of all, integration of local general administration and educational administration is an option which can coin harmony between decentralization and regionally balanced-development. It is, at least, suggested that educational administration of the elementary school should be combined into local administration.
Decentralization of central powers can be shifted to local governments according to demands of local governments without frictions with even-development. Nation-wide division of territory pursuant to the level of development can a strategy for lessoning conflicts between decentralization and regionally balanced-development when concentrating of policy option in the least development regions.
Finally, building up of partnership between organizations which take in charge of decentralization and regionally balanced-development respectively will contribute to successful implementation without trade-off effects between them.

□ Keywords: decentralization, devolution, regionally balanced-development, concentration, centralization