[Reporter’s Notebook] Daegu-Gyeongbuk Administrative Integration, What Matters Is Not the 'Speed'

"In fact, it is proper to gather opinions from the provincial councils and include them in the legislation before proposing it, but that would take too long...."

When asked about the 'remaining procedures' at the signing ceremony of the four-party agreement for the Daegu-Gyeongbuk integration on the 21st, the official in charge of the practical work responded this way. This implies that 'opinion gathering' and 'bill proposal' might proceed separately to speed up the administrative integration.

For the integration of the two metropolitan governments, Daegu and Gyeongbuk, the process must sequentially follow from reaching a consensus between both sides, gathering local opinions, proposing a special integration law, and passing it through the council. However, even the first step, 'reaching a consensus,' encountered difficulties. After intensifying integration discussions with government support in early June, Daegu and Gyeongbuk agreed on the broad framework of 'securing new growth engines and enhancing regional competitiveness,' but painful negotiations continued during detailed discussions. The cause was the failure to narrow differences over the location of the government office and the roles of basic local governments such as cities and counties. At the end of August, Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo effectively declared the 'collapse of integration,' experiencing a crisis of failure.

Although the signing ceremony for the agreement was held, there is still a long way to go before integration. The special law aims to be proposed this year and passed in the first half of next year. The agreement explicitly states that the legally required opinion-gathering procedure for local government integration will be 'in principle, listening to the opinions of the provincial councils.' According to the Local Autonomy Act, when merging local governments, either a local council resolution or a resident referendum must be conducted, but this means the procedure will be completed by hearing the council's opinions instead of a referendum. This reflects the intention to choose a 'faster method' instead of the complicated and lengthy referendum process.

Although resident briefings and opinion polls will be conducted, there are many concerns that these will be mere formalities. Local governments hold resident briefings during policy decision-making processes, but most residents often pass by without knowing when or how these are held. If a referendum were held, local voters would have the opportunity to reflect their views, but opinion polls inevitably reflect limited opinions.

Regarding the form of bill proposal, since government legislation must undergo prior impact assessments and regulatory reviews, consideration is being given to simplifying the process through a member of the National Assembly's proposal. Member-initiated legislation is calculated to enable faster parliamentary discussions compared to government-initiated legislation. What is important for integration without side effects is not a race against time but attention to detail. The integration of Masan, Changwon, and Jinhae was completed in one year, but conflicts continued. The criticism that the lack of a referendum has become a source of regional conflict is a point worth reflecting on.

Regional integration is a process that changes the future environment of local residents. It must be followed by sufficiently gathering both support and opposition opinions and carefully examining expected effects and concerns. To ensure the successful smooth landing of the massive city 'Daegu-Gyeongbuk Special City,' which will have a status comparable to Seoul, it is necessary to avoid falling into the trap of speed.

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