Seoul Metropolitan Council Democratic Party Declares Support for Yeom Tae-young as Supreme Council Member Candidate

Yeom Tae-young, Mayor of Suwon, Announces Candidacy for Democratic Party Leadership Election Representing Local Councils and Basic Local Governments

Kim In-ho, Chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Council

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] The Seoul Metropolitan Council’s Democratic Party of Korea (Representative Assemblymen Jo Sang-ho, Seodaemun 4) has resolved to support Mayor Yeom Tae-young of Suwon, who is running for the Supreme Council member position, by uniting the will of all 102 party-affiliated council members ahead of the Democratic Party’s national convention scheduled for the 29th of this month.

Candidate Yeom Tae-young is the first three-term mayor of Suwon and has served as the chairman of the National Association of Mayors, County Heads, and District Heads, successfully implementing people-centered policies through grassroots politics in local communities.

Representative Jo Sang-ho stated, “The reason why the national administrative vacuum was minimized even amid national crises such as MERS, SARS, COVID-19, and the impeachment political turmoil was because local autonomy firmly supported the country.” He added, “Nevertheless, the Local Autonomy Act revision bill, which the government proposed for the first time in 30 years reflecting the will of the candlelight citizens, was discarded due to the expiration of the term in the 20th National Assembly amid the indifference of lawmakers.”

He continued, “We express our support for candidate Yeom Tae-young, who represents local autonomy and decentralization, by uniting the power of local councils so that the voices of local governments can be directly conveyed to the party leadership and central politics.”

Below is the full text of the declaration of support and the list of all 102 Democratic Party members of the Seoul Metropolitan Council who participated in the declaration.

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Declaration of Support for Yeom Tae-young, Candidate for Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea

Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the revival of local autonomy.

Since the reestablishment of local councils, local council members nationwide have been solving various issues to improve regional development and residents’ quality of life closest to the local residents. The reason why the national administrative vacuum was minimized even amid national crises such as MERS, SARS, COVID-19, and the impeachment political turmoil was because such local autonomy firmly supported the country.

President Moon Jae-in declared that decentralization and local autonomy are the mandate of the people and the spirit of the times, announcing a strong government for autonomy and decentralization. The late President Kim Dae-jung achieved the revival of local autonomy through a life-risking hunger strike, and the late President Roh Moo-hyun’s realization of grassroots democratic politics has allowed the spirit of local autonomy to continue to this day.

However, even at this moment, 2,441 grassroots Democratic Party politicians, including members of the Seoul Metropolitan Council and local government heads and metropolitan and basic council members, are still in a reality where they must cry out loudly for the realization of true local autonomy and decentralization.

The provisions related to local autonomy have never been amended since the original constitution and consist of only two articles. The Local Autonomy Act revision bill, proposed by the government for the first time in 30 years reflecting the will of the candlelight citizens, was discarded due to the expiration of the term in the 20th National Assembly amid the indifference of lawmakers.

At every critical moment determining the future of the Democratic Party, candidates have consistently promised to realize decentralization, but it has never been fulfilled. The challenges of candidates who quietly walked the path of local autonomy and sought to realize it were regrettably never even given a chance. For example, Park Woo-seop, mayor of Incheon Nam-gu, challenged for the Supreme Council member position representing the decentralization faction at the February 2015 national convention, and Hwang Myung-seon, mayor of Nonsan, did so at the August 2018 national convention, but both were frustrated.

This time, Mayor Yeom Tae-young of Suwon has once again registered as a candidate for Supreme Council member at the 8.29 national convention, representing the decentralization faction. Since being elected mayor of Suwon in 2010, Mayor Yeom has recognized that local autonomy is the only way to revitalize local areas and has demonstrated the power and importance of the field through innovative local politics.

The 8.29 national convention is a very important moment for the Democratic Party to lay the foundation for extending its administration with the renewed trust of the people. Mayor Yeom Tae-young becoming a Supreme Council member would be a groundbreaking turning point in the history of local autonomy in Korea and a demonstration of the Democratic Party’s innovation to the people.

Therefore, all 102 members of the Seoul Metropolitan Council affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea actively support candidate Yeom Tae-young, who is running representing local councils and local governments, as our party’s Supreme Council member!

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Kim In-ho (Chairman of Seoul Metropolitan Council),

Jo Sang-ho (Representative Assemblyman of the Democratic Party of Korea, Seoul Metropolitan Council),

Shin Won-chul (Former Chairman of Seoul Metropolitan Council),

Kang Dae-ho, Kang Dong-gil, Kyung Man-seon, Ko Byung-guk, Kwon Soon-sun, Kwon Young-hee, Kim Kyung, Kim Kyung-young, Kim Kyung-woo, Kim Kwang-soo, Kim Ki-dae, Kim Ki-duk, Kim Dal-ho, Kim Dong-sik, Kim Sang-jin, Kim Sang-hoon, Kim Saeng-hwan, Kim Soo-kyu, Kim Yong-seok, Kim Yong-yeon, Kim In-je, Kim Jae-hyung, Kim Jeong-tae, Kim Jeong-hwan, Kim Je-ri, Kim Jong-mu, Kim Chang-won, Kim Chun-rye, Kim Tae-soo, Kim Tae-ho, Kim Pyung-nam, Kim Hye-ryun, Kim Ho-jin, Kim Ho-pyung, Kim Hwa-sook, Kim Hee-geol, Noh Seung-jae, Noh Sik-rae, Moon Byung-hoon, Moon Young-min, Moon Jang-gil, Park Ki-yeol, Park Ki-jae, Park Sang-gu, Park Soon-gyu, Bong Yang-soon, Seo Yoon-gi, Sung Heum-je, Song Do-ho, Song Myung-hwa, Song Ah-ryang, Song Jae-hyuk, Song Jeong-bin, Shin Jeong-ho, Ahn Kwang-seok, Yang Min-kyu, Oh Joong-seok, Oh Han-ah, Oh Hyun-jung, Woo Hyung-chan, Yoo Yong, Yoo Jeong-hee, Lee Kyung-sun, Lee Kwang-sung, Lee Kwang-ho, Lee Dong-hyun, Lee Byung-do, Lee Sang-hoon, Lee Se-yeol, Lee Seung-mi, Lee Young-sil, Lee Eun-joo, Lee Jeong-in, Lee Jun-hyung, Lee Tae-sung, Lee Hyun-chan, Lee Ho-dae, Lim Man-gyun, Lim Jong-guk, Jang Sang-gi, Jang In-hong, Jeon Byung-joo, Jeon Seok-gi, Jeong Jae-woong, Jeong Ji-kwon, Jeong Jin-sul, Jeong Jin-cheol, Chae Yu-mi, Chae In-mook, Choi Ki-chan, Choi Seon, Choi Young-joo, Choi Woong-sik, Choi Jeong-soon, Chu Seung-woo, Han Ki-young, Hong Seong-ryong, Hwang Gyu-bok, Hwang In-gu [All 102 members of the Seoul Metropolitan Council affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea, in alphabetical order].

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