Gwangju City Council's 30th Anniversary Policy Debate 'Successful'

Strengthening Local Council Capabilities, Enhancing Accountability, and Exploring Tasks for Addressing Regional Issues

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The 30th anniversary policy forum commemorating the opening of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Chairman Kim Yongjip) was successfully held.

The Gwangju Metropolitan Council announced that the commemorative events, including the vision proclamation ceremony, special exhibition, and youth council, concluded on the 13th with a ‘policy forum (seminar)’ attended by local autonomy experts and citizens.

The policy forum (seminar), the final event of the commemoration, was held with great enthusiasm, attended by Chairman Kim Yongjip, Mayor Lee Yongseop, Superintendent of Education Jang Huiguk, city and district council members, civic groups, citizens, and local autonomy experts.

Chairman Kim said, “As local autonomy progresses, citizens’ expectations for genuine local autonomy created by residents are higher than ever,” adding, “I hope today’s event will be a meaningful time to derive various measures for realizing autonomous decentralization where citizens are the true owners.”

Key guests emphasized through the discussion that day the sustainable growth engine and blueprint for local councils, promoting the development of the Gwangju community through mutual checks and balances with local governments, and the cooperation and efforts of the National Assembly for the realization of complete local decentralization.

Following this, presentations and discussions by local autonomy experts continued at the forum (seminar).

Marking the 30th anniversary of the revival of local autonomy, the forum sought to build consensus for opening a new era of ‘Autonomous Decentralization 2.0,’ review the footsteps of local councils, strengthen local council capabilities, enhance accountability, address various regional issues, and explore the necessity and direction for enacting the Local Council Act.

Chairman Kim emphasized, “The complete revision of the Local Autonomy Act after 32 years will lead to citizens’ lives changing more autonomously in many aspects,” adding, “I hope that local autonomy will take deeper root in residents’ lives on the foundation of autonomous decentralization and that diverse lives in each region will blossom with their own colors.”

Meanwhile, this policy forum (seminar) was jointly hosted by the Gwangju Metropolitan Council and the Korea Governance Association, and supported by the Gwangju Metropolitan City, Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, and the Gwangju Jeonnam Journalists Association.

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