Chungnam Province Launches Efforts to Attract 31 Institutions with Administrative District Discrepancies

Chungnam Province is initiating efforts to attract institutions whose administrative districts do not match because Chungnam and Daejeon have not been separated.

According to Chungnam Province on the 12th, Chungnam and Daejeon were separated in 1989 and have been operated as separate metropolitan autonomous entities for over 34 years. The Chungnam Provincial Office also relocated from Daejeon to Naepo New Town in 2012.

However, 31 government-affiliated public institutions, including Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea Tourism Organization, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, Housing Management Corporation, Korea Electric Power Corporation, and Bank of Korea, still do not separate Chungnam and Daejeon in their regional headquarters and branches, resulting in ongoing administrative district mismatches.

Some institutions that have separated or become independent still have jurisdiction over several cities and counties in Chungnam from their Daejeon headquarters or branches.

Chungnam Province views this as weakening public service responsiveness, causing work confusion, and increasing the time and economic burdens on residents using regional headquarters and branches. They also believe that when implementing projects linked to provincial administration, the dual management authorities inevitably cause policy neglect and other damages.

To resolve this, Chungnam Province first identified 31 government-affiliated public institutions whose administrative jurisdictions do not match and delivered a “Letter Urging Separation and Independence of Chungnam Headquarters” signed by Governor Kim Tae-heum to the relevant institutions.

In the letter, Governor Kim stated, “The reason for the existence of public institutions is to provide essential public goods and services to improve the quality of life of the people.” He emphasized, “Public institutions must always be open to the demands of the people and environmental changes, and their organizational structure should be flexibly operated accordingly.”

However, he expressed regret that “some public institutions are integrated and operated as Daejeon-Chungnam headquarters and branches, or even if separated and independent, some cities and counties in Chungnam are included in the work areas of the Daejeon headquarters and branches, resulting in administrative jurisdiction mismatches.”

He added, “This not only weakens the responsiveness of public services and causes work confusion but also imposes excessive time and economic burdens on 2.2 million residents, which goes against the purpose of local autonomy.”

Following the delivery of the letter, Chungnam Province plans to form a dedicated task force (TF) to build consensus and sequentially visit the headquarters, regional offices, and relevant ministries of the 31 public institutions to continuously request the separation and independence of Chungnam headquarters and branches.

Song Mu-gyeong, head of the Public Institution Attraction Team of Chungnam Province, said, “Many problems, including inconvenience to residents, arise due to the mismatch of jurisdictions between metropolitan autonomous entities and public institutions.” He added, “We will do our best to separate and make independent the Chungnam headquarters and branches to achieve balanced development, realize the era of local autonomy, and improve the quality of life for residents.”

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