Mayor Lee Jangwoo of Daejeon Urges Transfer of Financial Resources and Authority to Local Governments

Attendance at the 9th Central-Local Cooperation Council
"Need to Improve the Unreasonable Preliminary Feasibility Study System"

Lee Jangwoo, Mayor of Daejeon (Photo by Mo Seokbong)

On November 12, Lee Jangwoo, Mayor of Daejeon, attended the 9th Central-Local Cooperation Council held at the Presidential Office, where he called for the “mandatory implementation of prior consultation between central and local governments regarding local fiscal burdens” and urged for the “transfer of financial resources and authority to local governments.”

This meeting, the first to be held since the inauguration of the Lee Jaemyung administration, was attended by the President, the Prime Minister, the Ministers of Economy and Finance, Education, and the Interior and Safety, the Chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Director of the Ministry of Government Legislation, the Chair of the Committee for the Local Era, as well as the governors and mayors of 17 provinces and metropolitan cities, and other key figures from both central and local governments, totaling about 30 participants.

The agenda included discussions on: ▲ plans to amend the Central-Local Cooperation Council Act ▲ measures to promote fiscal decentralization for the realization of substantive local autonomy ▲ strategies to innovate national subsidy programs and strengthen fiscal cooperation between central and local governments ▲ and ways to expand local participation in government committees to reinforce the national-local cooperation system.

Mayor Lee stated, “Any matter that imposes fiscal obligations on local governments must be subject to prior consultation, and there is a need to improve the current unreasonable preliminary feasibility study system.”

He also added that, regarding local fiscal management, “The policy directions discussed at this meeting, such as the statutory rate for local allocation tax, and increases in local income and consumption taxes, are desirable.”

Meanwhile, Daejeon City also submitted suggestions on local issues, such as proposals for institutional improvements to revitalize the domestic hydrogen railway industry, in line with the meeting.

The Central-Local Cooperation Council is a meeting where key figures from central and local governments gather to deliberate on regional development issues. It is in principle held once per quarter, and consists of the President (Chair), the Prime Minister (Co-Vice Chair), relevant ministers, the Chair of the Council of Governors and Mayors (Co-Vice Chair), and the governors and mayors of provinces and metropolitan cities.