'Local Autonomy and Decentralization' Was the Key to Resolving COVID-19

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] A talk concert was held to share the efforts and achievements of basic local governments such as Suwon City, Goyang City, and Jeonju City, which demonstrated excellent responses to the COVID-19 situation through the power of local autonomy and decentralization, and to discuss the direction of local autonomy and decentralization in the post-COVID era.

The 'COVID-19 Overcome Local Autonomy and Decentralization Talk Concert,' hosted by the Korea Mayors and Governors Association, the Committee on Local Autonomy and Decentralization, the National Assembly COVID-19 Response Special Committee, and National Assembly Member Park Gwang-on (Suwon City District), was held on the 7th at the 2nd Conference Room of the National Assembly Members' Hall in Yeouido, Seoul.

At the talk concert, hosted by broadcaster Jung Jae-hwan, panelists including Yom Tae-young, Representative Chairman of the Korea Mayors and Governors Association (Mayor of Suwon), Lee Jae-jun, Mayor of Goyang, and Kim Seung-soo, Mayor of Jeonju, presented cases of excellent COVID-19 responses.

Also, Park Seong-ho, Planning Director of the Committee on Local Autonomy and Decentralization, Ha Jin, Director of the Emergency Situation Room at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, and Han Chang-seok, Chairman of the Suwon City Residents' Autonomy Committee Council, looked back on cases where the government, local governments, and citizens all cooperated to respond effectively to COVID-19.

The talk concert introduced leading policies that were disseminated both domestically and globally through swift and creative responses in the quarantine and economic sectors.

First, Suwon City introduced the so-called 'Yom Tae-young Law,' which established the groundwork for basic local governments to hire epidemiological investigators, emphasizing rapid quarantine response.

It also cited as achievements the operation of a multi-layered quarantine system including temporary living facilities for self-quarantined individuals, temporary testing facilities providing living spaces for overseas entrants until their test results are available, and safe accommodation facilities to prevent community transmission.

In particular, the city introduced the 'Mask Expedition,' where executive civil servants personally visited mask factories to secure masks for vulnerable groups, and the 'Fair Donation' movement that began with citizens' voluntary donations.

Suwon Mayor Yom Tae-young said, "While implementing social distancing, to effectively distribute masks, we overcame the mask shortage through a two-track system where the general public uses pharmacies and vulnerable groups receive masks from public institutions—a representative example of K-quarantine achieved through cooperation between the private and public sectors and between local and central governments. We must overcome the difficulties of centralized authority through local autonomy and decentralization that maximizes the self-generating power of communities."

Goyang City presented the case of originally devising and implementing drive-through testing, while Jeonju City explained the fair rent movement and citizen-centered economic cooperation that led to a 'city without layoffs,' going beyond fair consumption.

Participants also exchanged opinions on the direction local autonomy and decentralization should take in the post-COVID era based on these achievements through local autonomy and decentralization.

Park Seong-ho, Planning Director of the Committee on Local Autonomy and Decentralization, said, "Taking this COVID-19 as an opportunity, it is necessary for local governments to respond preemptively and for policy models to spread to more areas. This consensus needs to be communicated more to central ministries and the National Assembly so that the government can empower local areas for a safer and better society."

Kim Sun-eun, Chairwoman of the Committee on Local Autonomy and Decentralization, who attended the talk concert, said in her remarks, "Even amid the COVID-19 crisis, local autonomy and decentralization policies and the three-way cooperation between the central government, local governments, and residents as sovereigns worked ideally to respond effectively to COVID-19."

Representative Chairman Yom Tae-young said, "The achievements shown by local governments in responding to COVID-19, combined with the power of the center, will create better examples of K-quarantine. In the post-COVID era, trusting the power of the field and creating new values and opportunities, I hope related legislation will pass as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, prior to the talk concert, participants held a performance urging the passage of local autonomy and decentralization-related bills toward the 20th National Assembly, whose term expires on the 29th. They called for the enactment of the four major bills on local autonomy and decentralization, including the comprehensive revision of the Local Autonomy Act pending in the National Assembly.