Chairman Kim Hyun-ki Welcomes Inclusion of Ex Officio Members in Local Era Committee

Kim Hyun-gi, Chairman of the Korea Council of Provincial and Metropolitan Council Chairpersons, Welcomes Inclusion of Ex Officio Members in the Local Era Committee

On the 25th, the 'Special Act on Local Autonomy Decentralization and Regional Balanced Development' Passed the National Assembly Plenary Session

Chairman Kim stated, "After continuous efforts, it is meaningful that representatives of local councils are included as ex officio members of the Local Era Committee"

"We will do our best to ensure that local councils play their proper role in local decentralization and balanced development"

Kim Hyun-ki, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council

Kim Hyun-gi, Chairman of the Korea Council of Provincial and Metropolitan Council Chairpersons (Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council), on the 25th, welcomed the passage of the 'Special Act on Local Autonomy Decentralization and Regional Balanced Development' at the National Assembly plenary session, which includes the participation of local councils in the composition of the Local Era Committee.

The 'Special Act on Local Autonomy Decentralization and Regional Balanced Development' is a bill that integrates the previously separately pursued 'Local Decentralization Act' and 'Balanced Development Act.'

The Local Era Committee is a presidential advisory body established under this integrated bill.

Initially, the composition plan for the Local Era Committee excluded the representative of the Council Chairpersons, one of the four major local government councils, from the ex officio members.

Chairman Kim Hyun-gi explained, "It is fundamentally and seriously disconnected that representatives of local councils are not included in the representative body discussing local decentralization and balanced development. Especially, since the Local Era Committee integrates the existing Autonomy Decentralization Committee and Balanced Development Committee, the role of local councils, which existed in the Autonomy Decentralization Committee, was rather removed, making it a regressive composition plan."

He added, "We have repeatedly requested that representatives of local councils be included as ex officio members of the Local Era Committee, and now that this has been realized, I consider it very meaningful. We will do our best to ensure that local councils play their proper role in local decentralization and balanced development."

□ Since his inauguration as the 18th Chairman of the Korea Council of Provincial and Metropolitan Council Chairpersons in September last year, Chairman Kim has made every effort to guarantee the participation of local councils in the composition of the Local Era Committee.

First, he directly proposed this to the President at the '2nd Central-Local Cooperation Meeting' held in Ulsan last October and at the 'Luncheon Meeting with Provincial and Metropolitan Council Chairpersons Invited by the President' in December.

He also made proposals through meetings with Lee Chae-ik, Chairman of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee (November 23), Han Chang-seop, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (November 28), and Woo Dong-gi, Chairman of the National Balanced Development Committee (December 20), as well as through the launch ceremony of the National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum (January 9, 2023) and the joint statement by representatives of the four major local government councils (January 12, 2023).

In March, during the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee's bill subcommittee meeting (March 20), he also made proposals through phone calls and meetings with lawmakers including Kim Kyo-heung (Democratic Party), Chairman of the Bill Review Subcommittee 1, and Park Sung-min (People Power Party).

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