Yoon "True Local Era"... Delegating Authority to Revive Regional Economy and Jobs (Comprehensive)

Expansion of Authority over 'Development Restriction Zones and Free Trade Zones'... Focused Promotion of 'Regional Economy'
'Regional Economy → Jobs → Self-Reliance' Increase... Yoon "Must Foster Self-Reliant Growth Engines"
Financial Support Authority for Local Universities Transferred to Local Governments... Leading Regional Talent Development

[Asia Economy Reporters Baek Kyunghwan and Gu Chae-eun] The government is expanding the authority to lift development restrictions on non-capital region greenbelt areas. As the beginning of the 'local era reform project' for regional balanced development, it has decided to start by revising the 'regional economy,' including expanding business authority over free trade zones. President Yoon Seok-yeol's plan is to increase the self-reliance of local governments and open a full-fledged local era starting with this.

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon held the '3rd Central-Local Cooperation Meeting' at the Jeonbuk Provincial Office in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, and announced the 'Plan for Promoting the Transfer of Central Government Authority to Local Governments,' stating, "The government must boldly transfer central authority to open a true local era." President Yoon said, "Central and local governments must engage in intense deliberation and communication over people's livelihoods," and added, "We will support regions to discover and nurture their own growth engines."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the 3rd Central-Local Cooperation Meeting held at Jeonbuk Provincial Office in Jeonju, Jeonbuk on the 10th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Central-Local Cooperation Meeting is a de facto 'second Cabinet meeting' where the highest decision-makers of the central and local governments gather to deliberate policies for the development of local autonomy and regional balance. This was the second time President Yoon personally presided over the meeting. At the first meeting in October last year, he promised to regularize the meeting to be held quarterly and to develop it into a major platform for national governance through regional rotation, emphasizing that "the core of the local system is the creation of quality local jobs."

Accordingly, this meeting addressed detailed plans different from the first meeting, including ▲a report on the 'Plan for Promoting the Transfer of Central Government Authority to Local Governments,' ▲approval of the 'Plan to Amend the Enforcement Decree of the Central-Local Cooperation Meeting Act' and the 'Improvement Plan for the Local Extinction Response Fund,' and ▲a report on the 'Plan to Expand Local Government Autonomy in Organizational Authority.'

The most notable point was the adjustment of authority to lift greenbelt restrictions in non-capital regions. Although the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had already announced plans to revise related enforcement decrees within the first half of the year, this issue was separately discussed in the local era reform talks attended by the president. Previously, the authority to lift greenbelt restrictions on areas of 300,000㎡ or less was delegated to city and provincial governors, but going forward, this scope will be expanded to 'within 1,000,000㎡.' This means an expansion from the size of the National Assembly building to one-third the size of Yeouido.

This reflects the intention that city and provincial governors take direct leadership and respond flexibly to regional development demands. The strategy is to revive the regional economy and increase jobs starting from this point. Political circles interpret this as correcting the central government's excessive regulation of greenbelt lifting in non-capital regions under the pretexts of fairness and environmental conservation.

Allowing city and provincial governors to directly establish projects to strengthen the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in free trade zones is in the same vein. Until now, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, a central government department, planned projects in 13 free trade zones and delivered them top-down to the regions. However, going forward, local governments, which understand local conditions and circumstances well, will establish plans to strengthen SME competitiveness, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will coordinate policies through an 'operating council' in which it participates. Free trade zones are designated areas to promote trade and improve employment through foreign investment, including Masan, Iksan, Gunsan, Daebul, Donghae, Yulchon, Ulsan, and Gimje.

Financial support authority for regional universities, which have been embroiled in debates over their survival, will also be transferred to local governments. This breaks away from the previous method where the Ministry of Education, a central government department, directly selected and supported regional universities, empowering local governments to take the lead in nurturing local talent and building a development ecosystem. A National Assembly Coordination Office official explained, "In a situation where local extinction is becoming visible due to low birth rates and intensified concentration in the capital area, it was decided to boldly transfer central government authority to local governments so that they can lead growth."

In addition, the government selected a total of 57 tasks across six fields: land, industry, employment, education, welfare, and systems. Key tasks include ▲approval authority for unmanned island development project plans, ▲participation in determining and allocating the scale of foreign workforce introduction, ▲application of environmental impact assessments according to city and provincial ordinances, ▲authority over farmland conversion, and ▲development of hinterland complexes for local airports and ports. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said, "We believe in the potential of local areas and will boldly promote the transfer of authority," adding, "We are accustomed to a centralized administrative culture that views local governments as executing and supervising bodies, but maintaining the status quo is not the way to overcome the crisis."

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