Even with the same job and the same salary, a person's wealth and future can drastically diverge depending on where they live. In his recent book, "The Geography of Inequality" (Sanzini, 38,000 KRW), Professor Jung Joon-ho of Kangwon National University explores the structural roots of South Korea's severe regional imbalances. Moving beyond conventional views that attribute regional disparities merely to income gaps or population decline, the book investigates how economic activities are spatially organized and how geographical hierarchies reinforce power structures. 

At the heart of this dynamic is spatial division of labor—often described as a "branch plant economy"—where corporate headquarters, research and development, and financial power concentrate in the capital region, while non-capital regions are relegated to production and manufacturing. This structural asymmetry leads to a geographical mismatch in income, which subsequently translates into housing-centric asset accumulation. Specifically, surging housing prices and asset premiums in the metropolitan area act as quasi-financial assets, widening the wealth gap between those who own property in the capital and those who do not. 

Ultimately, this cycle fuels the hyper-concentration of financial and political power in the capital, accelerating regional extinction and socioeconomic polarization. The book delivers a critical message: addressing South Korea's deep-rooted inequality requires rethinking space not merely as a physical location, but as a fundamental socioeconomic order that distributes capital, opportunity, and future prosperity.

[Copyright (c) Global Economic Times. All Rights Reserved.]