National Subsidies, Customized Guidance on Government24 ... Strengthening Local Public Safety by Region

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[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Starting from the new year, the autonomous police system responsible for public safety will be introduced nationwide in local governments, providing community-tailored policing services in areas such as daily safety, children and women, and traffic according to regional characteristics.

More than 300 beneficiary services provided by central government ministries and local governments can be applied for at once through Government24, and government subsidies for flood and windstorm insurance premiums will be expanded to reduce the burden on citizens affected by floods, typhoons, heavy snow, and other disasters.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety introduced 10 major policies in three areas?government innovation, decentralization and regional vitality, and public safety?that will make citizens' daily lives more convenient and safer starting in 2021.

From April next year, without visiting community centers or multiple websites, the government will directly verify eligibility information through administrative information sharing and provide customized benefits such as national subsidies that individuals can receive. For digitally disadvantaged groups such as the elderly and disabled who have difficulty using or accessing the internet, they can visit the nearest community center and simply fill out an application form to receive the same guidance.

Along with this, according to the 'Electronic Signature Act' enforced since the 10th, identity verification on public websites such as year-end tax settlement simplification, Government24, and the National Petition Portal will be possible using various private electronic signatures alongside the existing public certificate.

Plastic public official IDs and driver's licenses, which were cumbersome to carry and vulnerable to forgery and theft, can now be conveniently issued as mobile IDs and used both online and offline. Mobile licenses will enable convenient identity verification in various fields, from online non-face-to-face financial transactions to offline civil service applications.

Autonomous police responsible for public safety will be introduced in local governments nationwide. While maintaining the current police organizational structure, to secure democracy and decentralization in policing administration, responsibility and command authority for autonomous police affairs will be granted to local governments, and autonomous police committees under the jurisdiction of city and provincial governors will be established to command and supervise autonomous police affairs.

In line with the post-COVID-19 era, a 'one-stop online resident direct participation system' will be established, allowing residents to request and check results of resident ordinance proposals, recalls, and referendums online without visiting government offices in person.

To revitalize local consumption and support small business owners, local love gift certificates worth a total of 15 trillion won will be issued. This is an increase of 5.4 trillion won compared to this year. Each of the 231 local governments will set annual sales plans and start selling at a 10% discount from January. To recover the depressed local economy and provide frontline life quarantine services to residents, about 8,600 new local quarantine jobs will also be created.

To alleviate the tax burden caused by the realistic adjustment of official real estate prices, the property tax rate on housing for single-homeowners with official prices of 600 million won (tax base 360 million won) or less will be reduced by 0.05 percentage points per tax bracket. As a result, households will reduce their property tax burden by up to 180,000 won. Additionally, to support overcoming COVID-19 damages, local tax reductions for agriculture, fisheries, and small businesses, as well as deductions and reductions for personal local income tax, will be extended.

For disaster-vulnerable areas with high risk of typhoon and heavy rain damage, the government will cover 87% of flood and windstorm insurance premiums regardless of income level. For other areas, the government’s share of insurance premiums will be increased up to 70% for all flood and windstorm insurance subscribers to reduce their burden and strengthen preparedness against unexpected natural disasters.

Under the enforcement of the 'Child Safety Act,' workers at 22 types of child-use facilities such as daycare centers, kindergartens, and academies must receive at least 4 hours of emergency treatment training annually. Activities that threaten safety, such as cooking, camping, and street vending, are completely prohibited within children's playgrounds to ensure children can use the facilities safely. To strengthen child traffic safety, unmanned traffic enforcement equipment and traffic lights will be installed in 8,227 child protection zones nationwide.

In addition, to efficiently rescue lives and suppress fires in high-rise buildings, seven cities and provinces that previously lacked fire department aerial ladder trucks will sequentially introduce such vehicles.

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