'Local Decentralization Act-Balanced Development Act' Integrated Bill Public Notice Until the 24th of Next Month

Establishing Institutional Foundations for Realizing the Local Era through Region-Led Balanced Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government announced on the 13th that it will prepare the "Special Act on Local Autonomy Decentralization and Regional Balanced Development" and enter a 40-day legislative notice period from the 14th to October 24.

Although local decentralization and balanced development are closely related, the promotion systems were dispersed due to the Local Autonomy Decentralization Committee under the Local Decentralization Act and the National Balanced Development Committee under the National Balanced Development Act, resulting in limitations in linking local decentralization and balanced development. Since the comprehensive plans for local autonomy decentralization and balanced development were established separately and the related tasks and policies were implemented individually, it was difficult for local governments to feel the effects of local decentralization and balanced development policies.

The integrated bill consists of 5 chapters and 92 articles. Based on the plans of cities/provinces and central ministries, a comprehensive plan for the local era will be established, and a Local Era Committee will be set up to link local autonomy decentralization and balanced development, strengthening the enforcement of the committee’s deliberation and resolution matters.

The integrated bill aims to realize a local era where all citizens enjoy equal opportunities regardless of location by resolving regional imbalances, promoting development suited to regional characteristics, and advancing balanced development led by local governments through local autonomy decentralization. It explicitly states that the integrated promotion of local decentralization and balanced development is a prerequisite for realizing the local era.

The "Comprehensive Plan for Local Autonomy Decentralization" and the "National Balanced Development Plan," which were separately established under the Local Decentralization Act and the Balanced Development Act, will be integrated and operated as the "Comprehensive Plan for the Local Era." Based on the comprehensive plans of cities and provinces, sectoral plans established by central ministries will be reflected to formulate the "Comprehensive Plan for the Local Era (every 5 years)," and to efficiently implement it, annual implementation plans and evaluations by city/province and sector will be conducted. A bottom-up operation method has been adopted where local governments proactively plan projects suited to regional characteristics, and the central government comprehensively supports them, thereby expanding local initiative and autonomy.

Additionally, balanced development policies such as development of growth promotion areas, relocation of companies, universities, and public institutions to local areas, as well as decentralization tasks including authority transfer, office division system reorganization, and local administrative system reform are stipulated together. As part of measures to secure regional self-sustainability and reverse the unipolarization trend of the metropolitan area, matters related to Opportunity Development Zones and Education Freedom Zones included in national agendas are also stipulated.

To effectively promote balanced development led by local regions, a Local Era Committee integrating the Local Autonomy Decentralization Committee and the National Balanced Development Committee will be established. The committee will consist of up to 32 members, including one chairperson and one vice-chairperson, and if necessary, senior secretaries from the Presidential Secretariat may also attend meetings.

The committee will perform an integrated promotion system role encompassing local decentralization and balanced development by overseeing and coordinating national agendas for the local era and regional pledges, in addition to the functions performed by the Local Autonomy Decentralization Committee and the Balanced Development Committee. Furthermore, to ensure enforcement of deliberation and resolution matters, the committee can report the implementation status to the Central-Local Cooperation Council, establishing a review procedure for local governments regarding local decentralization and balanced development policies.

To efficiently promote the Comprehensive Plan for the Local Era and regional balanced development projects, the name of the fund will be changed to the Regional Balanced Development Special Account. Operational procedures have been streamlined, including extending the deadline for the committee’s notification of opinions on investment directions for regional balanced development policies and special account budget formulation.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated, "We will do our best to realize a local era where all citizens enjoy fair opportunities and prosperous lives regardless of where they live through balanced development led by local regions," and added, "We will strengthen our resolve and collect diverse opinions from local governments, residents, related ministries, and experts during the legislative notice period to ensure the integrated bill is smoothly discussed at the 2022 regular National Assembly session."

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