Substance in Local Autonomy from Within, Impressive on the Surface

▲ The Open Our Party Local Government Special Committee launch ceremony was held at the VIP dining room of the National Assembly main building on the morning of April 15. Park Jae-deok, chairman of the Open Our Party Local Government Special Committee, is delivering opening remarks / Photo by reporter Kim Jin-seok

The Open Our Party Local Government Special Committee (Chairman Shim Jae-deok) held its launch ceremony at the National Assembly on the morning of the 15th, attended by Party Chairman Moon Hee-sang, Administrative Self-Government Committee Chairman Lee Yong-hee, Local Government Special Committee Chairman Shim Jae-deok, and mayors, county governors, and district chiefs from the party across the country.

At the launch ceremony, appointment letters for special committee members were presented to 31 people across the nation. The special committee decided to hold roundtable discussions on local government system reform, focusing on regions where party-affiliated mayors, county governors, and district chiefs are located.

Beginning with Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province on May 10, the committee plans to visit 14 cities and counties nationwide, including Ongjin County in Incheon, Gwanak District in Seoul, and Inje, Gangwon Province, to discuss four key themes: local finance system, local education autonomy, decentralization of urban planning, and decentralization of organizational and personnel authority.

Based on issues identified through these roundtable discussions, the special committee plans to implement system improvements in the form of member-initiated legislation after deliberation at the committee level.

At the launch ceremony, Special Committee Chairman Shim Jae-deok stated, "The current local autonomy may be impressive on the surface, but the reality is different," and added, "Since local autonomy cannot succeed if the central government is not properly established, we will make efforts at the party level to establish grassroots democracy."

<Yeouido News=Reporter Kim Dong-hyun>