Yisang-il, Mayor of Yongin, Requests Reconsideration of 'Public Facility Opening Ordinance' on 28th

Sang-il Lee, Mayor of Yongin

[Asia Economy (Yongin) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province, requested a reconsideration of the 'Partial Amendment to the Ordinance on the Opening and Use of Public Facilities in Yongin City' to the Yongin City Council on the 28th.

This follows the decision made at the Yongin City Ordinance and Rules Deliberation Committee held on the 27th, which determined that the partial amendment ordinance could harm the public interest and resolved to request reconsideration in accordance with Article 120 of the Local Autonomy Act.

Article 120 of the current Local Autonomy Act stipulates that "If the head of a local government recognizes that a resolution of the local council is ultra vires, violates laws or regulations, or significantly harms the public interest, they may request reconsideration with reasons within 20 days from the date of receipt of the resolution."

Earlier, on the 22nd, the City Council passed the 'Partial Amendment to the Ordinance on the Opening and Use of Public Facilities in Yongin City' with unanimous approval from all 17 Democratic Party-affiliated council members.

The main point of the amended ordinance is to separately specify the exceptions for public facility use permits, effectively allowing various political events to be held in the city's public facilities.

However, the city holds the position that if politically charged events are held in public facilities, the city and public officials could become embroiled in unnecessary political controversies, and there is a risk that public facilities could be degraded into political propaganda venues.

Additionally, the city believes that when individuals or organizations not subject to laws such as the Public Official Election Act apply for permission to use public facilities for the purpose of supporting or criticizing specific politicians or political parties, the city would lose the grounds to restrict such requests, leading to unavoidable controversies and administrative burdens.

Even if the exceptions are limited to cases for religious ceremonies, since various religious activities such as promotion or education that are not in the form of 'ceremonies' would be eligible for use permits, the city is concerned about becoming embroiled in disputes over religious bias.

The city sent a formal letter requesting reconsideration to the City Council on the same day, and the council must reconsider and notify the executive branch again within 10 days (excluding recess or adjournment periods).

Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin City urged, "I ask the City Council to make a wise judgment so that public facilities can be used in accordance with their installation purpose and essence."

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