Seoul City and District Councils: "Stop Reverse Discrimination Against Seoul"... Joint Declaration on Local Finance

Criticism of Unilateral Budget Burden Shift by Central Government

The Seoul Metropolitan Council and the Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairpersons' Association have officially raised the issue of local fiscal imbalance and announced a joint response.

At the declaration ceremony held on the 24th at the Yongsan War Memorial Convention Hall, Choi Hojung, Chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, and Cho Dongtak, President of the Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairpersons' Association, attended along with the chairpersons of each district council in Seoul. During the event, the two organizations announced a "Joint Declaration on Local Finance" and urged for the correction of the unreasonable fiscal structure centered on the central government. The Democratic Party of Korea did not participate in the joint declaration, except for the chairperson of the Jungnang District Council.

Seoul Metropolitan Council and Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairpersons' Association Jointly Announce. Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Council.

The joint declaration highlighted the issue of the low national subsidy rate that is applied exclusively to Seoul. In particular, it pointed out the case where the Seoul Metropolitan Government and its districts had to bear a total of 580 billion won in local funds by participating in the "Livelihood Consumption Coupon" project led by the central government.

Due to the lower national subsidy rate compared to other cities and provinces, Seoul has had to shoulder a financial burden through the issuance of local bonds and securing various resources. The declaration emphasized that this is a structural problem that infringes upon the fiscal autonomy of local governments without prior consultation.

This declaration goes beyond simple cooperation between the city and districts, urging a restructuring of the fiscal relationship between the central and local governments. The declaration states, "It is necessary to correct the unreasonable differential subsidies for Seoul and restore fairness in the allocation of national subsidies across regions."

Choi Hojung, Chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, criticized, "From a fiscal perspective, local autonomy has been moving backward for the past 30 years," adding, "Local governments should be entities that design and take responsibility for residents' welfare on their own, but in reality, they remain subcontractors for central government projects."

Choi further emphasized, "The repeated reverse discrimination against Seoul is not just a fiscal issue but a serious structural problem that threatens the city's sustainability," and stated, "Today's joint declaration will serve as a starting point for realizing local autonomy."

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