Assemblyman Lee Byung-hoon Proposes Amendment for '1:1 Policy Support Allocation' for Metropolitan City and Provincial Council Members

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Congressman Lee Byung-hoon (Democratic Party of Korea·Gwangju Dong-gu Nam-gu Eul) has taken the lead in proposing the "Partial Amendment to the Local Autonomy Act," which allows metropolitan city and provincial council members to be assigned at least one policy support specialist.

The current law stipulates that policy support specialists can be appointed within half of the total number of local council members, including basic and metropolitan councils, with a phased introduction of up to one-quarter of the members by December 31, 2022, and up to half by December 31, 2023.

However, for metropolitan council members overseeing special cities, metropolitan cities, special self-governing cities, provinces, and special self-governing provinces, it has been pointed out that more support personnel are needed considering the population, number of households, and administrative districts of their constituencies.

The amendment sets the lower limit of policy support specialists for metropolitan city and provincial councils to be equal to the total number of council members, and delegates the upper limit to be determined by presidential decree, ensuring that at least one policy support specialist is secured per metropolitan council member.

Congressman Lee emphasized, "It is essential to expand policy support personnel so that metropolitan council members can represent residents' opinions, oversee local administration, and carry out smooth legislative activities," adding, "Creating an environment and conditions where local council members can work properly will be the driving force to further strengthen 'grassroots democracy.'"

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