President Yoon Suk Yeol says he will decisively hand over some of the central government’s powers to local governments to usher in a true era of regions.

Yoon made the remark on Friday during the third meeting of a council on policies to promote balanced growth in North Jeolla Province.

He said the government will provide support so that regions will, on their own, discover and foster growth engines that have a comparative advantage, adding that both the central and local governments must seriously ponder issues related to people’s livelihoods.

During Friday’s meeting, the central government’s key powers were divided into the six areas of land, industry, employment, education, welfare and institutions, with 58 tasks related to such areas set to be transferred to local governments.

The tasks will see local governments handed the authority to operate free trade zones and provide financial support to universities.