Yisangil, Mayor of Yongin, "Special City Status Should Support Regions with Declining Local Populations"

Emphasized at the Special Market Council on the 21st
Agreement Promotion with Population Decline Areas in January Next Year

Lee Sang-il, Mayor of Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province, emphasized that "special-status cities must take the lead in coexistence with regions experiencing population decline."

On the 21st, Mayor Lee attended the 2nd regular meeting of the Special-status Mayors' Council held at the Suwon Convention Center Dining Room in Suwon City, stating, "Special-status cities must play a leading role to drive national balanced development." The meeting was attended by the mayors of four special-status cities, including Mayor Lee, Lee Dong-hwan of Goyang City, Lee Jae-jun of Suwon City, and Hong Nam-pyo of Changwon City.

At the regular meeting of the Special City Mayors' Council held on the 21st, Lee Dong-hwan, Mayor of Goyang (from left), Lee Sang-il, Mayor of Yongin, Hong Nam-pyo, Mayor of Changwon, and Lee Jae-jun, Mayor of Suwon, pledged mutual growth between special cities and regions experiencing population decline. Photo by Yongin City

Earlier, the special-status mayors had agreed to sign a "Cooperation Agreement for Win-Win Growth between Special-status Cities and Population Declining Areas" with the council of mayors, county governors, and district heads of 89 cities and counties in population-declining regions, which was launched in September to jointly respond to the crisis of local extinction and lead national balanced development. The special-status mayors plan to sign the agreement in January next year and make joint efforts to revitalize the economy, culture, and tourism in population-declining areas.

The special-status mayors also pointed out that despite the launch of the "Local Era Committee" in July, the review of the transfer of special-status affairs has not progressed, and they decided to respond jointly to secure the authority of special-status cities. To this end, on the 13th of last month, they decided to demand the prompt processing of 57 review agenda items submitted by special-status cities to the "Local Era Committee" for the transfer of authority.

According to Yongin City, among the 86 functional affairs for which the four special-status cities requested transfer to the "Presidential Committee on Autonomy and Decentralization," the predecessor of the "Local Era Committee," only six have been legislated. The special-status mayors plan to meet with Woo Dong-gi, chairman of the Local Era Committee, on the 23rd to request active efforts to secure the authority of special-status cities.

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