Jung Won-oh, Seongdong-gu Mayor: "'National Task' Phase 2 Fiscal Decentralization Must Be Expedited"

Forum 'Autonomy and Balance' Presents Legislative Tasks for Decentralization and Balanced Development... Commitment to Prompt Passage... Mayor Jeong: "Phase 2 Fiscal Decentralization Stalled Due to Government Ministry Disagreements, Final Plan Not Even Announced... Regrettable"

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong District, is speaking at the press conference urging the passage of legislative tasks for local decentralization and balanced development, held at the National Assembly Press Hall on the 11th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, emphasized, "Decentralization and balanced development are now pressing issues of our time," adding, "The second phase of fiscal decentralization plans must be promptly implemented to complete the decentralization roadmap promised by the government to the people."

Mayor Jung made these remarks on the 11th at a press conference held at the National Assembly Press Hall, urging the passage of legislative tasks related to local decentralization and balanced development.

The press conference was hosted by the forum "Autonomy and Balance," which includes 41 members of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party and 46 current heads of basic local governments, totaling 87 members. Mayor Jung serves as the Deputy Secretary-General of "Autonomy and Balance."

On the day, Mayor Jung pointed out, "In this rapidly changing era, the progress of decentralization, a national agenda, is unusually slow," and noted, "The second phase of fiscal decentralization was originally scheduled to be announced last October, but due to disagreements among government ministries, the final plan has yet to be released."

He continued, "Decentralization became a national agenda and the aim of strong fiscal decentralization was to increase the financial autonomy of local governments while enhancing their accountability, so that local governments, which are closest to the people, can meet the high welfare demands of citizens in an autonomous and creative manner." Mayor Jung stressed, "Although there are regional differences, welfare services without discrimination must be promptly advanced through the second phase of basic-centered fiscal decentralization to enrich the living, working, and resting environments of the people."

The forum "Autonomy and Balance" also reiterated the unwavering pursuit of decentralization, which was a key national agenda of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2017, through the press release issued that day.

In particular, they urged the swift implementation of the second phase of fiscal decentralization and selected and announced legislative tasks that must be addressed by the 21st National Assembly, pledging to work together to legislate them as soon as possible.

The selected legislative tasks for decentralization and balanced development include the Local Autonomy Act, the Act on the Formation and Operation of the Central-Local Cooperation Council, the Local Council Act, the Local Allocation Tax Act, the Local Tax Act, the Residents' Ordinance Proposal Act, the Residents' Recall Act, the Residents' Referendum Act, the Basic Act on Revitalization of Village Communities, the Autonomous Police System Act (Police Act and Police Officers Act), the Hometown Love Donation Act, and the Special Act on Revitalization and Support for Localities at Risk of Extinction?comprising 10 laws on decentralization and 2 laws on balanced development.

In the press release, "Autonomy and Balance" stated, "New laws suitable for the new era of local autonomy, created through the 30 years of efforts to establish local autonomy, are needed," and added, "The 21st National Assembly must take responsibility to ensure that legislative tasks, including the full revision of the Local Autonomy Act and other bills that were practically not deliberated and expired during the 20th National Assembly, are properly discussed and reviewed."

Furthermore, "Autonomy and Balance" emphasized, "Especially after experiencing the unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have realized how crucial the local governments' field-based quarantine responses are. For overcoming national crises and preparing for the post-COVID era of great transformation, the role of local governments centered on regional balanced New Deal must be emphasized once again," and stressed, "South Korea must reinvent itself as a decentralized nation, creating a new framework where the state, regions, and citizens autonomously decide their lives and cooperate horizontally."

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