Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young: "We must create SOC that reflects the voices of local governments"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] At the '2020 Living SOC Complexification Improvement Forum' held on the morning of the 3rd in the main hall of the National Assembly Library by the National Association of Mayors and Governors, voices emerged calling for a system that can actively utilize state-owned land to revitalize living SOC complexification projects.

The forum, hosted by the offices of Representatives Kim Doo-gwan and Park Gwang-on and organized by the Good Local Government Council and the National Association of Mayors and Governors, was prepared to share cases and achievements implemented this year and identify problems to reflect in next year's policies.

The forum also aimed to gather opinions and improvement measures from basic local governments, which are the implementation units of living SOC complexification, and to implement people-oriented policies centered on basic governments.

The keynote presentations were delivered by Lee Eun-jin, Chair of the Education and Welfare Committee of the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development, on "The Future Direction of Living SOC Complexification Projects," and by Kim Mi-kyung, Mayor of Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, on "Cases from Basic Local Governments and 2020 Living SOC Complexification Improvements."

Chair Lee Eun-jin argued that the scope of facilities subject to complexification projects should be expanded and location plans based on living zones should be established from the urban development phase. She also suggested that local governments should be allowed to utilize vacant state-owned land as sites for living SOC to promote the use of state-owned land.

Mayor Kim Mi-kyung cited the construction of Eunpyeong-gu's Jeungsan Complex Culture and Sports Center as an example. She pointed out the reality that basic governments with insufficient own resources find it difficult to carry out projects, and argued that ultimately only local governments with strong finances carry out projects, leading to a "rich get richer, poor get poorer" phenomenon in living SOC projects. To improve this, she suggested the need for the government to conduct surveys and provide information on state-owned land where living SOC facilities can be installed to local governments.

Following this, Professor Woo Myung-dong of Sungshin Women's University's Department of Economics served as moderator, and discussions were held with experts from various sectors including local governments, academia, research institutes, and media.

In particular, Yeom Tae-young, Chairman of the National Association of Mayors and Governors, emphasized that the opinions of basic governments, which are the direct implementers of living SOC projects, should be reflected.

Chairman Yeom Tae-young said, "Living SOC complexification is important not only to solve social problems such as low birth rates and aging populations but also to prevent the extinction of local communities. We need to put our heads together to create SOC that citizens can feel from projects that reflect the voices of basic governments."

Meanwhile, the government plans to invest 8.7 trillion won this year as a start and 30 trillion won over three years from next year through 2022 in "community-oriented living SOC," with plans to build essential living infrastructure.