Hwaseong Mayor Jung Myunggeun Proposes Enactment of "Special City Support Act" at Presidential Policy Briefing

Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province announced that Mayor Jung Myunggeun proposed the need to enact a "Special Act on Support for Special Cities" during a national policy briefing held at the Presidential Guest House on the 12th, which was presided over by President Lee Jaemyung.

Jung Myunggeun, Mayor of Hwaseong. Mayor Jung proposed the prompt enactment of the "Special Act on Support for Special Cities" at the national briefing presided over by President Lee Jae-myung on the 12th. Provided by Hwaseong City

During the national policy briefing, which was attended by mayors, county governors, and district chiefs from across the country, Mayor Jung made several proposals to President Lee: ▲ clarifying the legal status of special cities to improve the quality of administrative services that reflect the unique characteristics of each city; ▲ identifying and expanding the transfer of substantial authority, as only 17 out of approximately 40,000 state affairs have been delegated to date; ▲ strengthening financial support to enable administrative functions at the level of metropolitan cities; and ▲ supporting the activation of joint cooperative projects between special cities and regions experiencing population decline.

There are five special cities with populations of over one million: Hwaseong, Suwon, Yongin, and Goyang in Gyeonggi Province, as well as Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province.

The "special city" system was newly established in January 2022 through an amendment to the Local Autonomy Act, but the actual transfer of authority has been limited. Of the approximately 40,000 state and provincial affairs, only 17 have been delegated to special cities.

To address this issue, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety proposed a "Special Act on Support for Special Cities" in December last year, and a total of eight related bills have been introduced in the National Assembly. However, none of these bills have been referred to the Public Administration and Security Committee, and they have been pending for nearly a year.

Mayor Jung, who serves as the chairperson of the Council of Special City Mayors, stated, "Although special cities with populations exceeding one million wish to pursue various cooperative projects with regions experiencing population decline, the Local Finance Act restricts expenditure on other local governments." He added, "We request your attention and support so that the special act can be promptly enacted to realize democracy and local autonomy."

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