Gwangju Launches 100-Day "Zero Regulation" Drive...Overhauling Rules on Strategic Industries such as AI and Mobility

Intensive Identification of Regulations
Across Livelihoods, Jobs, Care, and Everyday Life

Gwangju Metropolitan City is launching an initiative to identify regulations for improving systems in strategic industries and resolving inconveniences in citizens' daily lives. Over a 100-day period, it will conduct intensive inspections of regulations in industrial sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), future mobility, and energy, as well as regulations affecting people's livelihoods on the ground.

The Gwangju Metropolitan City Government announced that it will operate a 100-day intensive regulatory discovery period from February 11 to May 20, under the goal of "Intensive Identification of Unreasonable Regulations, Zero Regulation."

Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall.

This initiative will be carried out in connection with last year's "Find the Regulation" project. Focusing on four key areas — the livelihood economy, jobs and industry, population and care, and everyday life — the city will continue to promote on-site, experience-based regulatory innovation.

In the livelihood economy area, the city will uncover institutional difficulties that restrict the management and business activities of small business owners, small and medium-sized enterprises, and the self-employed. In the jobs and industry area, it will review regulations that hinder employment for young people, career-break individuals, and older adults, as well as those that obstruct the growth of new industries. In the population and care area, it will look into improvements needed in the operation of care and welfare systems. In the everyday life area, it will collect complaints about inconveniences affecting all aspects of citizens' lives, including safety, housing, the environment, and culture.

Anyone can participate by submitting proposals for regulatory improvement. Submissions can be made by email or postal mail.

The Gwangju Metropolitan City Government will also carry out "On-site Regulatory Discovery" activities, regularly visiting professional and occupational organizations to listen to difficulties on the ground. Among the identified tasks, matters requiring amendments to laws and regulations under the jurisdiction of central government ministries will be submitted to the "Regulation Sinmungo" petition system. Local regulations will be reviewed by the relevant departments of the city government and autonomous districts. If necessary, the city plans to recommend improvements after expert deliberation by bodies such as the Gwangju Regulatory Reform Committee.

Last year, Gwangju Metropolitan City identified 44 regulatory issues. It derived 24 central regulations as improvement tasks, including improvements to procedures for granting concurrent positions to executives of local public enterprises, and 20 local regulations, including easing eligibility criteria for applying to alley-type shopping district public contest projects.

Policy chief Lee Byungcheol said, "Lowering the barriers of regulation is the starting point for revitalizing the local economy and enhancing the convenience of people's livelihoods," adding, "We look forward to the participation of citizens and businesses so that inconveniences felt on the ground can lead to institutional improvements."

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