Yoon Hojoong Announces Vision for Local Autonomy: "Pursuing a 70:30 Ratio of National to Local Taxes"

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has unveiled its vision to lead the "next 30 years" in celebration of the 30th anniversary of locally elected governments. In order to strengthen local autonomy, the ministry plans to boldly transfer national administrative functions to local governments and pursue fiscal decentralization by aiming for a 70:30 ratio of national to local taxes.

On November 19, Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Hojoong announced this "Future Vision for Local Autonomy" at the "2025 Korea Local Era Expo" held at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center. The announcement reflects the results of this year's "30-Year Evaluation Study of Locally Elected Governments" conducted by the Korea Research Institute for Local Administration.

Yonhap News Agency

According to the ministry, while the overall standard of living for residents has improved since 1995, the Seoul metropolitan area is facing excessive congestion and high housing costs, while non-metropolitan regions are experiencing a real risk of local extinction. Additionally, a survey of 2,000 citizens found that satisfaction with local government administrative services has increased by about 24 percentage points compared to ten years ago. However, only a small proportion of respondents felt that there had been significant achievements in local autonomy (36%) or improvements in quality of life (34%).

Based on these evaluation results, the ministry announced "Hope for Korea: Local Autonomy of Participation, Solidarity, and Innovation" as its vision for the next 30 years. The core of this vision is to promote a transformative shift in local autonomy, enabling local governments to independently solve regional issues, with the central government providing support.

The first goal is to establish "resident-sovereign local governments," where all residents can participate in local governance anytime and anywhere. The ministry will fully introduce residents' councils as self-governing organizations grounded in the Local Autonomy Act, and strengthen the effectiveness of resident referendums and recall systems so that residents can take the lead in resolving local issues. In addition, a Basic Act on Social Solidarity Economy and Community will be enacted to foster a social solidarity economy ecosystem centered on local communities.

The second goal is to establish a partnership between the central and local governments and grant local governments comprehensive autonomy so they can independently address regional issues. The ministry will boldly transfer national administrative functions with significant impact on residents-such as those related to industry, employment, and land-to local governments, and will push for strong fiscal decentralization with a target of a 70:30 ratio of national to local taxes. The enactment of a Local Council Act is also planned to strengthen the independence and capabilities of local councils, which serve as representative bodies for residents.

The third goal is to overcome the concentration of population and resources in the Seoul metropolitan area and the risk of local extinction by establishing region-specific growth engines, and to dramatically improve support systems for non-metropolitan and depopulating areas, thereby strengthening regional capacity for balanced national development. To this end, the ministry plans to establish five major interregional policy alliances, implement customized self-governance models for three special self-governing provinces, and review reforms of the local administrative system to reflect population and living area considerations.

Minister Yoon stated, "The development of local autonomy is no longer a choice but a national survival strategy for Korea's continued growth," adding, "With a sense of urgency that the country cannot thrive unless the regions thrive, we will steadfastly advance toward becoming a truly decentralized nation."

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