Heo Seong-mu, President of the National Special City Association, "Need to Enact a Special Act on Support for Special Cities"

On the 9th, attendees including Heo Seong-mu, Mayor of Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam, are taking a commemorative photo at the 2022 First Half Regular Meeting of the National Special City Mayors' Council held at the Suwon Convention Center in Gyeonggi-do.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jucheol In] “A ‘Special Act on Support for Special Cities’ is needed, as seen in the cases of Jeju Island and Sejong City.”

Heo Seong-mu, Mayor of Changwon Special City and representative chairman of the National Special City Mayors' Council, said this at the 2022 first half regular meeting held at Suwon Convention Center on the 9th.

The council, composed of the mayors of Gyeongnam Changwon City and Gyeonggi Suwon, Goyang, and Yongin cities, resolved agenda items including the enactment of a special law on support for special cities, legislative support for the passage of the Local Autonomy Act amendment bill through the National Assembly’s Administration and Security Committee, prompt review by the Autonomy and Decentralization Committee, and preparation of legislative measures for the third local government transfer law.

Heo Seong-mu, representative chairman of the council and mayor of Changwon City, said, “Citizens still do not fully feel the launch of special cities, so a special law enactment is necessary for permanent authority acquisition, similar to the cases of Jeju Island and Sejong City,” adding, “Just as the four cities achieved the launch of special cities through the power of solidarity, we must continue to produce results through cooperation.”

A special city is a new local government entity for large cities with a population of over 1 million that maintains the status of a basic local government while having expanded administrative and financial authority equivalent to that of a metropolitan city, representing an intermediate form between metropolitan cities and general cities.

Accordingly, with the revised Local Autonomy Act fully enforced on the 13th of last month, Suwon, Goyang, Yongin, and Changwon cities were given the separate administrative designation of special cities and were allowed to have special exceptions in administrative authority.

These four cities formed the council last year and have continuously demanded the government and National Assembly to grant special city authority and transfer administrative tasks.

Mayor Heo said, “I will meet with the Minister of the Interior and Safety and lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties to emphasize the need for comprehensive legislative support so that the Local Autonomy Act amendment bill can pass during the February extraordinary session,” urging cooperation and coordination with the special city mayors.

Mayor Heo added, “Since we have realized the dream of becoming a special city, we may become someone else’s dream again,” and said, “Many local governments see us as a model to learn from, so let’s actively pursue continuous acquisition of special authorities at the level of the Special City Mayors’ Council.”

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