Gwangju City Council "Will Realize a Gwangju-Style Council Together with Citizens"

[Summary of the 8th Assembly's Second Half 1-Year Legislative Activities]

Active Member Legislation and Presentation of Effective Policy Alternatives Achieved

Gwangju Metropolitan Council.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Chairman Kim Yongjip) on the 30th concluded the one-year legislative activities of the second half of the 8th term and pledged to faithfully fulfill the role of a citizen representative body during the remaining year.

The second half of the 8th Gwangju Metropolitan Council actively carried out legislative activities as a representative body of citizens, handling a total of 419 agenda items during 124 days of sessions starting from the first extraordinary session in July last year, including 238 ordinances, 19 budget and settlement proposals, and 84 consent and approval proposals.

In particular, to enhance citizens' life satisfaction by reflecting factors closely related to citizens' daily lives in the local field in the preparation of autonomous legislation, 146 ordinances, accounting for 61% of the total 238 ordinances, were initiated by proposal. Through this, the council achieved recognition by winning the ‘Excellence Award’ in the organization category and the ‘Excellence Award’ and ‘Encouragement Award’ in the individual category at the ‘17th Local Council Excellent Ordinance’ evaluation hosted by the Korean Local Autonomy Association.

The annual budget of 9.3 trillion won for Gwangju City and the City Education Office was carefully reviewed and deliberated, considering validity and urgency, to be used efficiently for overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, revitalizing the local economy, and advancing Gwangju education.

Additionally, to discover effective policies for youth, the future of the region, seek practical measures to establish local autonomy following the complete revision of the Local Autonomy Act, and prepare policy directions for responding to the climate crisis and transitioning to a carbon-neutral society, the Youth Development Special Committee, Local Autonomy Special Committee, and Green New Deal Special Committee were organized and operated.

To realize a ‘policy council that listens to citizens and finds answers on site,’ the council strictly adhered to COVID-19 prevention guidelines and actively conducted 33 field visits, including to flood damage sites last summer, child and disabled welfare facilities, environmental infrastructure, and educational facilities.

The council also faithfully performed its core functions of checking and monitoring city administration.

Through administrative audits of 91 institutions including Gwangju City, the Education Office, and affiliated organizations, a total of 1,233 documents were meticulously reviewed, discovering 655 corrective matters and demanding improvements. Furthermore, by raising issues and proposing alternatives on major local issues and policies through 58 city administration questions and 23 five-minute free speeches, efforts were made to enhance administrative transparency and effectiveness.

To promote innovation in public institutions and fair personnel management, a personnel hearing was conducted for the candidate for CEO of the Gwangju Cultural Foundation, faithfully performing checks and monitoring activities over the executive branch as a representative body of citizens.

Moreover, to respond meticulously to the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis and last year’s flood damage, the council operated an emergency response headquarters at the council level and flexibly adjusted the legislative schedule, actively cooperating to enhance the effectiveness of the Gwangju City Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters’ response activities.

To share and overcome difficulties in the local community, unnecessary budgets such as international exchange activity budgets for council members were entirely cut and converted into emergency support funds for COVID-19 livelihood safety, thereby reducing citizens’ economic hardships and strengthening social welfare services.

Regarding local issues such as the relocation of Gwangju military airport and civilian airport, and the second phase of public institution relocation to local areas, a foundation was established for continuous communication between the representative bodies of the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions, the Gwangju and Jeonnam Provincial Councils. The council also led the solidarity of chairpersons of six metropolitan councils from Yeongnam and Honam regions to urge the inclusion of the Gwangju-Daegu Moonlight Inland Railroad Project in the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan and jointly urged the National Assembly for the prompt passage of a special law related to military airports with the Daegu City Council.

In addition, to resolve major local issues, the council has closely responded by issuing 22 statements, adopting 12 proposals and resolutions, and visiting the National Assembly, central government ministries, and major institutions for recommendations, cooperating and communicating with Gwangju City, political circles, and civil society.

Upon the launch of the second half of the council, the Gwangju Metropolitan Council established a dedicated public relations department and actively disseminates legislative news to citizens in real time through various media such as the press, YouTube, the internet homepage, and newsletters.

Citizen participation was also activated through the operation of an open chairman’s office, real-time broadcasting of council meetings (246 times), and attendance at plenary sessions (29 times with 154 attendees). The council has worked to resolve citizen inconveniences by promptly responding to 51 petitions and 79 internet civil complaints.

Furthermore, to more actively collect citizens’ candid opinions and policy proposals, the council strengthened the function and role of the Legislative Monitoring Group, which has been operating, by regularizing the submission of monitoring reports, expanding opportunities to attend council meetings, and providing incentives when 103 monitoring opinions were adopted. The council also provided opportunities for youth, the future leaders, to vividly experience the role of local councils and local autonomy through council tour programs (45 participants) and student mock councils (3 schools, 65 participants).

Efforts were also made to enhance the professionalism of legislative activities to propose future-oriented policy alternatives.

To improve the expertise and policy capabilities of council members, active operation of council research groups and policy networks involving external experts (5 divisions, 22 sessions) has been conducted, along with council member capacity development activities (4 sessions) and expert invitation lectures (5 sessions).

Considering the COVID-19 situation, policy forums (41 sessions) were held non-face-to-face via the council’s YouTube account, continuing steady policy development and practical alternative preparation suitable for regional characteristics despite the infectious disease crisis.

The second half of the 8th Gwangju Metropolitan Council plans to devote itself even more to resolving pressing local issues during the remaining one-year term.

Until COVID-19 is completely eradicated, efforts will be made to protect citizen safety and revitalize the local economy, while also striving to propose policy alternatives and prepare autonomous legislation for the effective promotion of key tasks such as the true globalization of the May 18 Democratic Uprising and the Gwangju-type 3 Major New Deals.

Additionally, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the council’s inauguration on July 8, 1991, various meaningful commemorative projects such as a vision declaration ceremony, special seminars, and compilation of the 30-year history of the council will be promoted to share the 30 years of legislative history with citizens and achieve more progressive legislative activities.

With the Local Autonomy Act, completely revised for the first time in 32 years, set to be fully implemented from January next year, the council plans to systematically and meticulously revise ordinances and regulations to effectively prepare for improved autonomous systems and independent personnel authority of the council to establish resident sovereignty.

Chairman Kim Yongjip said, “The second half of the 8th Gwangju Metropolitan Council has done its best in legislative activities for citizen happiness and Gwangju’s development despite the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis over the past year. Based on the achievements and reflections of the past period, we will continue to realize a ‘Gwangju-style council with citizens’ by performing more desirable and innovative legislative activities.”

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