Seoul City Council Opens the 295th Regular Session

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Seoul Metropolitan Council (Chairman Shin Won-chul) will hold the 295th regular session from the 10th to the 30th for 21 days, during which it plans to handle various current issues including the 2019 settlement and the 2020 supplementary budget.

Chairman Shin Won-chul (Democratic Party) reflected at the beginning of his opening remarks on the promises he made two years ago when he took office as chairman: ▲a council trusted for its competence ▲a chairman who communicates with minority parties ▲a chairman who supports first-term councilors.

Chairman Shin stated that the greatest achievement of the first half of the 10th council was the diligent creation of small but meaningful policies that changed citizens' daily lives more than ever before. Among the total 1,646 submitted bills, 793 were ordinances proposed by council members, marking the most active promotion of ordinance enactment and revision in the history of the council.

He emphasized that many livelihood laws aimed at socially vulnerable groups were prepared, including the ‘Youth Startup Support Ordinance,’ ‘Basic Ordinance on Gender Equality,’ and ‘Support Ordinance for Alleviating Child Housing Poverty.’

He also cited self-purification efforts as another legislative achievement. The Seoul Metropolitan Council declared last year as the inaugural year of self-purification, becoming the first among local councils to voluntarily promote self-purification efforts. The council proposed a resolution on self-purification efforts jointly initiated by all 110 council members and passed it unanimously.

He acknowledged some regrets. The Seoul Metropolitan Council operated a ‘Local Decentralization Task Force’ and worked hard for the passage of the full revision of the Local Autonomy Act in the National Assembly. However, the bill was never properly addressed in the relevant standing committee and was automatically discarded with the expiration of the 20th National Assembly’s term. He pledged to maintain interest and closely monitor the bill to ensure it gains momentum early in the 21st National Assembly and passes as soon as possible.

This regular session will begin with an opening ceremony at 2 p.m. on June 10, followed by two days of questions regarding Seoul city administration and education administration starting June 12. From June 16 to 22, each standing committee will review various agenda items related to their respective offices, headquarters, and bureaus.

From June 23, a special budget and settlement committee will operate, and on June 25, elections for the chairman and vice-chairman of the second half of the 10th council will be held. On the final day, June 30, a plenary session will be convened to process agenda items thoroughly discussed and submitted by the standing committees.

Below is the full text of the opening remarks.

Respected and beloved ten million citizens,

Mayor Park Won-soon, Superintendent of Education Cho Hee-yeon, and all related officials,

and fellow and senior council members,

Thank you for attending the 295th regular session of the 10th Seoul Metropolitan Council.

There is a saying from Confucius: 이인동심 기리단금 (二人同心 其利斷金).

“When two people unite their hearts,

their sharpness can cut through metal.”

As we open the doors of the 10th Seoul Metropolitan Council,

I believed that the most important task given to us

was precisely such cooperation and coexistence.

Just as much as properly monitoring and checking the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education,

it is important to communicate and cooperate together

toward the common goal of ‘citizen happiness and sustainable development.’

On a larger scale,

I felt a responsibility that Seoul, as the eldest local government,

should faithfully support the national vision for ‘local autonomy and balanced development’

and take the lead in realizing the national vision.

Two years have passed since then,

and we now begin the last session of the first half of the council.

Two years ago,

when I took office as chairman,

I made several promises.

First, I promised to make the council trusted for its competence.

There is a saying that ‘the process is more important than the result.’

However, I believe ‘the result is as important as the process.’

The best way to alleviate citizens’ concerns about local councils

is not merely the ‘will or effort of individual council members’

but to directly present the ‘fruits that can only be obtained through local autonomy.’

I pledged to share the image of a council working in communication with citizens,

and to consistently provide policy achievements that practically change daily life.

With this determination,

we strived to create small but meaningful changes through the most active legislative and policy research activities in the history of the council,

and worked hard to become an open council to share the process of change with more citizens.

Second, I promised to be a chairman who communicates with minority parties.

The 10th Seoul Metropolitan Council faced an unprecedented situation with only 8 opposition members among 110 councilors, a supermajority for the ruling party.

The council is a place where diverse public opinions are gathered and representative decisions are made based on the majority rule.

For this, the leader of the council must seek harmony over conflict, cooperation over competition,

and as chairman representing all 110 council members from all parties,

constantly consider integration and harmony.

I increased contact frequency with minority party members

and created roles for them in key positions to include minority voices in council operations.

Nonetheless, I reflect on whether my communication efforts might have been insufficient.

I also express gratitude to the council members who played brilliant roles despite difficult circumstances.

Each one of you enriched the council’s voice with your passionate efforts

and realized policy diversity.

I ask for your continued dedication over the remaining two years.

Third, I promised to be a chairman who supports first-term councilors well.

The 10th Seoul Metropolitan Council has over 70% first-term councilors,

and the highest number of women and youth councilors in its history.

For the Seoul Metropolitan Council to properly represent the diverse opinions of ten million citizens,

it is important to have the driving force of ‘diversity’ from within.

While the party composition lacked some ‘diversity,’

I had expectations that first-term, women, and youth councilors would gradually fill this gap,

and I worked to provide institutional support so that your will and efforts could shine.

Looking back,

first-term councilors have played a central role in the council

with creative and dynamic legislative activities beyond institutional support.

Maintaining the initial passion and enthusiasm of the first half,

adding the maturity and experience of two years,

I ask you to continue leading the Seoul Metropolitan Council

as a ‘council trusted for its competence.’

Respected ten million citizens of Seoul,

local councils are places that embody your diverse interests and demands

within the vessel of policy.

Rather than grand discourse or aggregate indicators,

we must practically change citizens’ daily lives through detailed policies.

In this regard, the greatest achievement of the first half of the 10th council

was the diligent creation of small but meaningful policies that changed daily life more than ever before.

Until today’s plenary session,

a total of 1,646 bills were submitted.

Among them, 793 were ordinances proposed by council members,

marking the most active promotion of ordinance enactment and revision in history.

To enhance the effectiveness of the bills,

public hearings and debates were actively held to listen to and gather opinions from expert groups and civil society,

with as many as 114 sessions over two years.

Fifty council research groups, which are policy research groups of council members, have been formed and have continued their activities.

The quantitative growth of legislative activities

also led to qualitative growth.

Notably, many livelihood laws were prepared.

The importance of public roles toward socially vulnerable groups in welfare blind spots

needs no further emphasis.

The Seoul Metropolitan Council, in step with Mayor Park Won-soon,

has devoted active efforts to improving welfare for youth, women, children, and housing.

For youth suffering from employment difficulties,

the ‘Youth Startup Support Ordinance’ was enacted,

and the ‘Basic Ordinance on Gender Equality’ was revised to support public sanitary pads for women’s health and convenience.

Recently, the council proposed the ‘Support Ordinance for Alleviating Child Housing Poverty,’

the first in the nation to consider children as subjects of housing policy,

testing the significance and potential expansion of local legislation.

Additionally, the Seoul Metropolitan Council declared last year as the inaugural year of self-purification

and was the first among local councils to voluntarily promote self-purification efforts.

Since the revival of local councils in 1991, 30 years have passed,

and the environment surrounding local councils has rapidly changed,

with citizens’ demands and expectations greatly increased.

Despite these changes,

there were parts that failed to reform long-standing practices,

and unfortunate incidents occurred in the process.

For local councils to fulfill roles befitting the times and lead local autonomy development,

they must fundamentally reassess outdated practices

and transform council operations in an advanced manner.

Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Council

pledged to create the local council we dream of by ourselves first.

It was a commitment to operate the council

in a way fully consistent with strengthening the professionalism and independence of local councils.

All 110 council members jointly proposed a resolution on self-purification efforts,

which was passed unanimously.

The 24 tasks across 9 fields included a will to restore citizens’ trust in local councils

and reestablish the status of local councils through voluntary and leading self-purification efforts.

By successively revising the and ,

the council carried out concrete and realized self-purification efforts, not merely declarative ones.

These self-purification efforts of the Seoul Metropolitan Council

have spread and expanded to metropolitan city and provincial councils nationwide.

Self-purification efforts are also the first step toward local decentralization.

When citizens’ trust is based on self-purification efforts,

we can carry out more empowered and responsible legislative activities,

and when the council’s status is established through professional legislative activities,

true local decentralization can be realized.

Considering that the biggest theme of the first half of the 10th Seoul Metropolitan Council was ‘local decentralization,’

our ‘self-purification efforts’ were inevitable.

The Seoul Metropolitan Council operated the

and worked for the passage of the full revision of the Local Autonomy Act,

which was prepared by the government for the first time in 30 years.

As chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council and president of the National Association of Chairpersons of Metropolitan and Provincial Councils,

I devoted myself to devising and promoting all measures necessary for the passage of the full revision of the Local Autonomy Act.

Communication with the National Assembly was greatly strengthened regarding bill processing,

and the council’s intentions were strongly conveyed several times to the government and the Blue House.

However, the , which contained all our efforts and expectations,

was never properly addressed in the relevant standing committee and was automatically discarded with the expiration of the 20th National Assembly’s term.

Although the public’s desire and expectation for local decentralization were fully ripe,

the fact that the bill did not even get a chance to be addressed

makes it difficult to avoid criticism that the last National Assembly failed in its legislative responsibility.

This is very regrettable.

Now, the 21st National Assembly has begun.

New beginnings are always accompanied by good energy.

I look forward to the vitality of the early term of the 21st National Assembly.

I will not overlook the importance of this period and will pay attention to the bill

so that the full revision of the Local Autonomy Act gains momentum early and passes through each stage as soon as possible.

This session was originally scheduled as the 293rd regular session.

However, due to two emergency extraordinary sessions held urgently in the first half of this year,

this regular session became the 295th.

As you all know,

the two emergency extraordinary sessions were held to process supplementary budgets for COVID-19 response.

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 earlier this year,

the clock of our society and the entire world has stopped.

Thanks to Korea’s creative and proactive advanced quarantine,

mature civic consciousness, and the sacrifice and dedication of medical staff,

we have been overcoming hardships wisely at every moment,

but we are still living in uncertain days.

COVID-19 is undoubtedly a crisis we do not want to experience again.

However, on the other hand,

we have gained warnings and lessons essential for humanity through this crisis.

If we, as citizens of Seoul,

as citizens of the Republic of Korea, and as universal humanity,

want to continue enjoying prosperity and peace as we do now,

we must establish a communal social system of solidarity and cooperation,

and that system must take the form of local decentralization where each individual is the true owner.

Respected ten million citizens of Seoul,

and the mayor, superintendent of education, and fellow council members present here,

Post-COVID does not mean the era after COVID has passed.

The change in the world has already begun from the very moment we first experienced COVID,

and we have stepped into the next era.

In other words, preparing for post-COVID does not mean preparing for the time after the disease is completely eradicated,

but responding to the changes we are currently experiencing

and preparing for the difficulties ahead.

Then, what exactly is the ‘COVID New Normal’?

We cannot help but seriously consider this.

The previously ongoing low-growth trend will deepen further.

Technological innovation and untact culture

will bring about industrial structure and job transformations.

Socially vulnerable groups

will be further excluded and forgotten from the social safety net

because they cannot keep up with these rapid changes.

Therefore, the task before us is simple and clear.

Before socially vulnerable groups become more marginalized,

we must improve the inequalities revealed before our eyes one by one.

We must prepare practical measures for socially vulnerable groups facing livelihood cliffs,

such as platform workers in precarious working conditions,

daily wage workers living day-to-day,

and small business owners who find it difficult even to get loans.

We must not hesitate or delay but immediately prepare and implement measures.

The first and second supplementary budgets and the upcoming third supplementary budget

can be understood from this perspective.

Just as Korea’s advanced quarantine recognized worldwide

was rooted in social solidarity and communal consciousness,

the way Korea lives in the COVID New Normal era

must also start from a sense of solidarity to live well together.

Finally, I would like to say one thing.

“The future is not calculated but acted upon.”

I want to share this phrase with myself, everyone here,

and the ten million citizens of Seoul, so that our warm sense of solidarity

can lead to immediate action.

Thank you.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.