Seoul Metropolitan District Council Secretariat Also Included in Audit Scope

Seoul District Mayors Association Holds 183rd Regular Meeting
·Priority Registration for Seoul Citizens at Seoul City-Operated Support Camping Sites to Enhance Convenience
·Inclusion of Council Secretariat in Autonomous Districts' Internal Audit Scope
·Discussion on Financial Support for Deficit Village Bus Companies, Proposing Full City Funding

Seoul's autonomous district councils conduct audits such as administrative inspections of the districts, but do the district councils themselves avoid being audited?

This issue was intensively discussed at the Seoul Metropolitan City District Mayors' Council meeting held on the 13th (Council Chairman Jeong Mun-heon, Mayor of Jongno-gu).

At 7:30 a.m. on the same day, during the 183rd regular meeting held in the conference room on the 8th floor of Seoul City Hall, discussions were held regarding audits of Seoul's autonomous district councils.

In particular, Lee Seong-heon, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, raised this issue amid conflicts with the Seodaemun-gu Council, gaining sympathy.

The meeting, which was the second regular meeting of the second year of the 8th popularly elected term, was attended by 23 district mayors including Council Chairman Jeong Mun-heon (Mayor of Jongno-gu) and 10 deputy attendees.

During the meeting, seven agenda items were discussed, including △ Proposal to include the council secretariat in the scope of autonomous district audits (Seodaemun-gu) △ Request to reconsider the suspension of personnel expenses support for job center public service counselors (Gangdong-gu, Guro-gu) △ Improvement of benefits such as priority registration for Seoul citizens at Seoul-operated camping sites (Guro-gu) △ Proposal to revise standards for restricting access to streams during heavy rain (Dobong-gu) △ Proposal for full Seoul city funding support for financially deficit village bus companies (Nowon-gu) △ Request to reconsider the revised law transferring overseas job placement business duties to autonomous districts (Jung-gu), among others. The council secretariat also reported on current issues such as the launch and first meeting results of the sound fiscal autonomous district task force.

In particular, the proposal to include the council secretariat in the scope of autonomous district audits was approved, amending the autonomous district audit regulations to include the council secretariat as an audit target. Mayors were encouraged to make efforts to prevent audit blind spots.

Among the agenda items, the proposal to improve benefits such as priority registration for Seoul citizens at Seoul-operated camping sites was approved. This concerns eight camping sites operated by Seoul (including one under development), requesting priority registration or facility fee reductions for Seoul citizens. Based on attendees’ opinions, it was decided to provide priority benefits to Seoul citizens, with some benefits prioritized for residents of the respective autonomous districts.

The proposal for full Seoul city funding support for financially deficit village bus companies was approved as originally proposed, ensuring that the financial burden is not passed on to the autonomous districts.

Jeong Mun-heon, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan City District Mayors' Council, said, “Since most of the agenda items discussed today are common issues among autonomous districts, we will do our best to propose necessary matters to the central government and Seoul city, and ensure that internal agenda items are improved by adhering to the council’s discussions.”

The next 184th regular meeting is scheduled to be held jointly with Seoul city in October or November 2023.

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