Rep. Jo Seung-rae Leads Related Bill in National Assembly to Maintain Ministry of SMEs and Startups in Daejeon

Assemblyman Jo Seung-rae is leading the bill to amend the Happy City Act. Photo by Assemblyman Jo Seung-rae's office

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] A revised bill to maintain the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) in Daejeon has been proposed in the National Assembly.

On the 4th, Cho Seung-rae, a member of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea (Daejeon Yuseong-gu Gap), announced that he had officially proposed the “Partial Amendment to the Special Act on the Construction of the Administrative City in Yeongi and Gongju Areas as a Follow-up Measure to the New Administrative Capital” (hereinafter referred to as the amendment), which includes all ministries except central administrative agencies and diplomatic/security ministries located outside the metropolitan area as relocation target institutions.

The amendment was proposed based on the fact that the current Happy City Act only contains relocation plans for central administrative agencies but does not have separate provisions for central administrative agencies that have already relocated to non-metropolitan areas.

This is also a measure to put a brake on the recent controversy caused by the MSS in Daejeon pushing for relocation to Sejong City.

Rep. Cho said, “I have taken the lead in proposing an amendment that excludes central administrative agencies located outside the metropolitan area, such as the MSS, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, from the relocation target institutions,” adding, “The amendment also includes adding the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which were previously excluded from the relocation target institutions among the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Unification, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.”

Regarding the reason for including the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as relocation target institutions in addition to maintaining the MSS in Daejeon, he explained, “Even setting aside diplomatic and security-related ministries directly related to the president’s governance functions, there is no special reason why the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family should be excluded from the relocation target institutions when the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which handles core domestic administrative functions, has completed its relocation.”

He also emphasized, “Since the administrative city was established to resolve the side effects of central administrative agencies being concentrated in the metropolitan area, ministries that have already moved to non-metropolitan areas have already achieved the purpose for which the related law was originally enacted, so relocating them again to other regions is unnecessary.”

He added, “I will strive to ensure that the timely passage of the amendment can fulfill the era’s task of balanced national development.”

Meanwhile, the amendment was jointly proposed by Rep. Cho along with Kim Won-i, Kim Jong-min, Park Beom-gye, Park Young-soon, Seo Young-seok, Lee Sang-min, Lee Sang-heon, Jang Cheol-min, Choi Jong-yoon, and Hwang Un-ha, lending support to maintaining the MSS in Daejeon.

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