On April 6, lawmakers Song Seok-jun and Son Myung-soo introduced the proposed National Infrastructure Framework Act, joined by 36 members of the National Assembly. The bill focuses on building national-level governance for infrastructure, including setting strategy and carrying it out, as well as evaluation.
As the bill notes, major countries have been moving aggressively to build and rebuild infrastructure. In the United Kingdom, the government announced in June 2025 a plan titled “UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy.” It lays out long-term investment and management for the next decade, covering transport, energy, water and digital infrastructure, as well as social infrastructure such as schools and hospitals, with the goal of boosting economic growth and improving quality of life.
Australia, after establishing its Infrastructure Investment Program for 2024-2033 in 2023, has been pushing road and rail investment under federal leadership. The United States also set a massive $2.5 trillion infrastructure investment plan in 2021 under the Biden administration, and the second Trump administration has continued to pursue infrastructure investment, as it did in the first. Japan, Taiwan and other Asian economies are taking similar approaches.
These efforts are not aimed only at fixing aging assets or generating short-term stimulus. Strategic infrastructure investment to upgrade a country’s core facilities has become a necessary task for the future, as competition intensifies in a global economy shaped by “country-first” policies. The need is also growing for investment tied to mid- and long-term goals amid rapid digitalization and climate-change response.
In that context, the newly introduced bill is significant because it would provide a legal foundation for strategic investment, from planning to implementation and evaluation, through national governance. South Korea has not lacked large-scale infrastructure plans in the past: the 2017 Urban Regeneration New Deal, the 2019 plan to overhaul aging infrastructure and expand “living SOC” investment, the 2021 Digital New Deal 2.0, and a 2026 private investment plan worth 100 trillion won. National plans for major infrastructure such as roads, railways and ports are also regularly established under related laws.
But many large investment plans have struggled to deliver results, often because responsibility was spread across multiple actors, making consistent execution difficult, and because projects were pushed down the priority list. Against that backdrop, building national governance and a clear legal basis has been an important task.
South Korea’s infrastructure conditions make investment hard to delay, the author wrote. Aging is severe: more than half of all roads are already more than 30 years old. More than 50% of rail facilities exceed their designed service life, and 30% are more than 40 years old. Ports and airports are not much different.
Demand is also rising to upgrade key infrastructure as digital technology and AI spread rapidly. Expanding economic infrastructure to foster industry has become central to creating new growth engines. The author said strategic infrastructure expansion is essential for regions facing accelerating population decline and weakening growth momentum.
Fundamentally, national infrastructure is a core foundation tied not only to economic growth but also to quality of life and a safe living environment, the author wrote, arguing that government investment should be expanded continuously and systematically. A strategic approach is needed that considers aging infrastructure, future growth engines and balanced regional development at the same time. The bill’s introduction should lead to more concrete discussion and full-scale action on national infrastructure measures, the author said.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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