Suwon Considers Creating Chief Deputy Mayor and Vice-District Chief Positions
| The ratio of residents per civil servant in Suwon City is approximately twice the national average for basic local government units, while administrative conditions such as organizational structure and personnel remain "severely inadequate," raising concerns about increased inconvenience for citizens. Accordingly, Suwon City plans to propose to the Ministry of Interior and Safety that it revise the rank standards for general cities with populations of 1 million or more and establish a chief deputy mayor position. Currently, Suwon City's population stands at 1.03 million, the highest among basic local government units nationwide, approaching Ulsan Metropolitan City's 1.08 million. In particular, the city is implementing large-scale urban development projects including the Gwanggyo Techno Valley Project and the Homae-sil residential development, which are expected to bring an additional 117,000 residents—60,000 and 57,000 respectively—making an expansion of administrative organization inevitable due to the anticipated surge in administrative demands from population inflow. |
▲ Disparity in administrative organizational standards
In Suwon City's case, the ratio of residents per civil servant is 449, which is 1.7 times higher than the national average of 251 for basic local government units and 256 for cities nationwide.
As of January 1 this year, Ulsan City has a population of approximately 1.08 million with 1 gun, 4 gu, 4 eup, 8 myeon, and 46 dong, operating with 9 national-level bureaus and 39 divisions in the main office and 4,332 civil servants (excluding 590 fire service personnel), resulting in 250 residents per civil servant.
In contrast, Suwon City has a population of approximately 1.03 million with 4 general districts and 42 dong, operating with 6 national-level bureaus and 26 divisions in the main office and 2,300 civil servants, resulting in 449 residents per civil servant—nearly double the national average of 256 for cities and counties nationwide.
Budget size also shows a significant difference: Ulsan City's 2005 general and special accounts totaled 1.98 trillion won, compared to Suwon City's 1.18 trillion won, a difference of approximately 800 billion won. Moreover, Suwon City maintains a fiscal independence rate of 64.8%, significantly higher than the national average of 40.6% for general cities.
As a result, Suwon City, as a general city among capital region basic local government units exceeding 1 million population, shows a marked disparity in administrative organization and citizen-oriented administrative services compared to certain metropolitan cities with similar population sizes.
This is because the organizational and personnel standards specified in the Local Autonomy Act set no criterion for populations exceeding 1 million but only for 900,000 or more, and the number of chief deputy mayors of cities, counties, and districts is set at one person, with district chiefs of non-autonomous districts set at level 4.
Moreover, as institutional heads with comprehensive authority to oversee city affairs and supervise district heads, they hold the same rank as district chiefs and national-level bureau directors at the main office, which weakens their external status.
In particular, the city points out that the absence of a subordinate manager (vice-district chief) makes the authorization procedures and policy-making processes vulnerable in cases of temporary incapacity of the district chief.
Thus, although Suwon City's population is approaching Ulsan Metropolitan City's 1.08 million, its administrative organization operates under basic local government standards rather than metropolitan government standards, causing difficulties in administrative operations.
Accordingly, Suwon City points out that revision of standards is necessary in consideration of the number of deputy metropolitan government heads of similar-sized metropolitan governments.
▲ Revision of chief deputy mayor position standards and establishment of vice-district chief system "urgently needed"
To address the disparity in administrative organizational standards, Suwon City is demanding reforms to local administrative organization standards, including expanding the number of chief deputy mayors in basic local government units with populations exceeding 1 million to two persons.
Additionally, because the current rules for organizational structure and personnel establishment contain no standards for populations of 1 million or more, general cities with 900,000 or more population operate identically, and the city argues that this should be revised to 1 million or more population. It also argues that the rank of city planning and coordination division and bureau directors should be elevated from level 4 to level 3.
The city also points out that district offices currently have only district chiefs at level 4 with no vice-district chiefs under relevant laws, making it difficult to secure organizations matching population scale. It thus argues that district chief ranks should be elevated to level 3, and a vice-district chief system should be established.
Accordingly, Suwon City plans to formally propose this month a policy recommendation for expanded local government organization through Gyeonggi Province to the Ministry of Interior and Safety.
Regarding this matter, a city official stated, "Suwon's proposal for expanded local government organization is identical to the legislative reform bill being prepared by the Council of Large City Mayors nationwide based on consulting results," and added, "As legislative grounds were established last year regarding the elevation of certain cities for local government units with populations of 1 million or more, we hope the city's proposal will be accepted."
Loading comments…