Suwon City Elevated to 'Special City' Status After 73 Years... Abundant Benefits for Citizens

Yeom Tae-young, Mayor of Suwon, is delivering a commemorative speech for the launch of the special city on the 13th.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Suwon City in Gyeonggi Province, along with Yongin, Goyang, and Changwon cities, officially started as a 'Special City' on the 13th. This comes 73 years after its elevation to city status on August 15, 1949.

A Special City is a new local government entity for large cities with populations over 1 million, which maintains the status of a basic local government while possessing expanded administrative and financial authority comparable to metropolitan cities. It is an intermediate form between metropolitan cities and general cities.

On this day, Suwon City held the inauguration ceremony for the Special City at 10 a.m. in the city hall auditorium.

Mayor Yeom Tae-young expressed in his commemorative speech, "Suwon Special City will add flexibility to local autonomy and present a model for diverse and rich regional development," adding, "It will serve as a catalyst to open a true 'era of citizen sovereignty' in this land."

He continued, "What status Suwon Special City will achieve and how it will harmonize with citizens' lives depends solely on our hands," emphasizing, "As the largest basic local government in Korea and the first Special City, we have the duty to set the standard for local autonomy in our country."

Mayor Yeom promised to return greater benefits to citizens with the authority and responsibility befitting the name of a Special City.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Democratic Party members of the National Assembly representing Suwon?Kim Seung-won, Baek Hye-ryun, Kim Young-jin, Park Kwang-on, and Kim Jin-pyo?as well as Jang Hyun-guk, Chairperson of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council, Jo Seok-hwan, Chairperson of the Suwon City Council, and members of the Suwon City Council.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, Minister of the Interior and Safety Jeon Hae-cheol, and Chairperson of the Autonomy and Decentralization Committee Kim Soon-eun sent congratulatory messages via video.

Mayor Yeom presented plaques of appreciation to Lee Won-hee, President of Hankyong National University, who contributed to realizing the Special City while serving as Chairperson of the Suwon City Autonomy and Decentralization Council, and Kwon Chan-ho, former Director of Planning and Coordination at Suwon City, as well as commendations to about 20 citizens and public officials.

Sun Young-mi, Secretary-General of the Suwon Special City Citizen Participation Headquarters, and Kim Seok-hyun, a first-year student at Sogang University, delivered the 'Suwon Special City Citizen Charter' on behalf of Suwon citizens.

The Citizen Charter consists of five articles: ▲ creating a self-governing community that is fair, just, and warmly considerate of one another ▲ establishing a sustainable city where nature and people coexist ▲ building a prosperous welfare city where everyone is safe and no one is marginalized ▲ aiming for an inclusive city that respects human rights and acknowledges diversity ▲ advancing as a global city that keeps pace with world citizens and stands shoulder to shoulder with global cities.

Prior to the inauguration ceremony, a plaque unveiling ceremony for the 'Suwon Special City Citizen Charter Tower' was held in the garden in front of the city hall main building.

The launch of the Special City is regarded as an achievement jointly accomplished by Suwon, Goyang, Yongin, and Changwon cities.

Since the full amendment of the Local Autonomy Act, which includes granting the Special City designation to large cities with populations over 1 million, was promulgated on January 12 last year, the four cities formed the National Special City Mayors' Council and continuously requested the government and National Assembly to grant Special City authority and transfer administrative tasks.

Through consultations between the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the four cities, Special Cities have acquired eight authorities including issuing regional development bonds, building permits, designation of housing development districts, designation and lifting of development-restricted areas, adjustment of ranks and personnel for public officials below grade 5, establishment and registration of local research institutes, among others.

In particular, the adjustment of the basic property deduction standard used for selecting social welfare beneficiaries and calculating support amounts from that of small and medium-sized cities to that of large cities such as special and metropolitan cities is a tangible benefit for Special City citizens.

Applying this standard significantly increases the number of beneficiaries and amounts for seven types of welfare benefits including livelihood benefits, housing benefits, and emergency support.

It is estimated that about 22,000 additional Suwon citizens will receive welfare benefits, and the support budget will increase by 7.3 billion KRW combining national, provincial, and city funds.

Suwon City is continuing consultations with central government ministries and metropolitan local governments to secure additional Special City authorities.

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