Two Years of 'Special City' Status with a Population of One Million... Authority Transfer Falls Short of Expectations

"Despite Transfer of 9 Offices, Lack of Autonomy in Personnel and Financial Management"

The launch of 'Teukrye-si' (Special City), a metropolitan city with a population of over 1 million, will mark its 2nd anniversary on the 13th. However, despite the transfer of government and metropolitan city/provincial duties to Teukrye-si, there are criticisms that it still falls short of the original intent of expanding local decentralization.

As of January 2021, four cities were designated as Teukrye-si: Suwon, Goyang, and Yongin in Gyeonggi Province, and Changwon in Gyeongsangnam Province. Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province, which surpassed a population of 1 million at the end of last year, will join the ranks of Teukrye-si in January next year if it meets the criteria by the end of this year.

At the regular meeting of the Special City Mayors' Council held last November, the mayors of four special cities are engaged in discussion.
[Photo by Yongin City]

With the revision of the Local Autonomy Act, Teukrye-si gained a legal basis to independently carry out administrative services according to each city's circumstances, and some authorities have actually been transferred. In April last year, with the revision of the Special Act on Local Decentralization and Regional Balance (Local Decentralization Act) and the transfer of duties from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the authority to handle nine special administrative tasks was transferred to Teukrye-si.

In the case of Yongin City, four tasks were transferred following the revision of the Local Decentralization Act: designation, development, and operation of logistics complexes; formation and operation of the local construction technology review committee; mountain area use permits; and imposition and collection of environmental improvement charges. Additionally, tasks related to the registration, cancellation, and support of non-profit private organizations under the Non-Profit Private Organizations Support Act, and the designation of tourism special zones under the Tourism Promotion Act were also transferred last year. From this year, consultation tasks related to the designation of new technology startup cluster areas will also be transferred to the city.

However, Teukrye-si still holds the position that the level of authority transferred falls short of the original purpose of strengthening local decentralization through the designation of Teukrye-si. The transferred authorities amount to only about 10% of the 86 requests made by the Special City Support Council, a group of the four Teukrye-si.

The four Teukrye-si are currently pushing for legislation of the 'Special Act on Support for Teukrye-si' to legally establish the basis for support and substantial authority for Teukrye-si. The bill includes provisions for establishing a Teukrye-si Support Committee directly under the Prime Minister, grounds for administrative and financial support for special designation, and the establishment of a special account under the National Balanced Development Special Account.

Lee Sang-il, Mayor of Yongin City, stated, "Although the central government and the province are lukewarm about enacting a special law for Teukrye-si, since Teukrye-si has been established, there is a need to swiftly make legislative efforts to carry out substantial work."

Teukrye-si also submitted an agenda to the Local Era Committee to transfer authority over 57 functional tasks to Teukrye-si. The Local Era Committee is an organization that oversees policies and tasks to strengthen regional balanced development and local decentralization and reviews various support projects.

In the case of Yongin City, a request was also made to the committee for the comprehensive transfer of authority regarding the 'establishment and operation of the local industrial complex planning committee.' They emphasize the urgency of transferring related authority to support advanced industries such as the 'Yongin Semiconductor Cluster' and the 'Materials, Parts, and Equipment Specialized Complex.'

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