Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, Urges Transition Committee: "Local Governments Must Also Participate Directly"

Proposal for Establishing a Provincial-Level Response System for Next Government's National Tasks During the Incoming Administration Transition Team Formation

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, strongly insisted that local governments should also participate in the Presidential Transition Committee.

On the 11th, Governor Lee stated, “From the formation of the next government’s transition committee, the participation of local governments must be institutionally guaranteed to open a new era of local governance,” adding, “We need to include a Balanced Development and Local Autonomy subcommittee in the transition committee to change the game from the start and open the local era.”

He pointed out that since the ‘Central-Local Cooperation Council’ bill, which Governor Lee created during his time as a member of the National Assembly in 2012, has now become a reality, it is necessary to actively consider creating institutional channels for direct communication with local governments from the formation of the transition committee, such as establishing a ‘Balanced Development Subcommittee’ and a ‘Local Autonomy Subcommittee,’ and dispatching personnel from local governments.

During the last presidential election, Gyeongbuk Province proposed 35 regional pledges, including the ‘New Gyeongbuk Project’ worth approximately 90 trillion won, to each presidential candidate.

The first priority task included urging the establishment of a national plan for population dispersion from the metropolitan area to lead the local era, relocating major national institutions to local areas, and creating a pilot economic cooperation complex between Daegu and Gyeongbuk.

Gyeongbuk Province expects that the upcoming Presidential Transition Committee will draft the blueprint for the next government’s five years and concretize the pledges presented during the election process. The province plans to focus on proposing urgent projects where regional development directly leads to national development.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo said, “Just as new wine must be put into new bottles, the new government has the mission to create a new framework to open a new local era, and the answer must be found from local governments, which are the policy frontlines of balanced development.”

He also emphasized, “Starting with the transition committee, local governments’ participation to reflect the voices from the field in national policy planning should be the first step to find ways to revitalize local areas in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

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