Gov. Lee's Second Half Goals: "A Fairer and Better Gyeonggi Province"

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] Governor Lee Jae-myung of Gyeonggi Province began the second half of his elected term on July 1. On June 29, the governor expressed his vision for the second half provincial governance direction, stating "I will make what Gyeonggi Province does become the standard for the Republic of Korea. I will make Gyeonggi Province a new center of the nation."

He further emphasized, "I will create a fair world where one cannot benefit from breaking rules and where following rules is not a loss. I will open an 'era of great unity where the strong are restrained and the weak are supported, and all live together.'"

Rather than putting forward new goals for the provincial administration, this is understood as an intention to further solidify the foundation of fairness, peace, and welfare that was promoted in the first half, nourished by the support and expectations of the provincial residents gained through the first half.

Governor Lee's second half provincial governance is divided into five key projects: ▲A fairer Gyeonggi Province free from grievances ▲Gyeonggi Province as a center of the era of peace ▲Gyeonggi Province guaranteeing humane living with welfare+ ▲Gyeonggi Province where all share the benefits of economic growth ▲A livable Gyeonggi Province through careful improvement of living environment.

■A Fairer Gyeonggi Province
Gyeonggi Province will continue the restoration of clean valley projects, a representative achievement of the first half, and will expand convenience facilities and living SOC such as walking paths, restrooms, and parking lots that residents and tourists can use in restored areas. The plan is to return clean valleys to the residents and then revitalize valley commerce. In accordance with Governor Lee's promise to "return the sea to the residents following the valleys," construction of cleaning ships and strengthened crackdowns on illegal parasols and illegal facilities will be enhanced. Recently, Kim Hui-gyeom, First Vice Governor of Gyeonggi Province, took charge of overseeing the 'Clean Gyeonggi Sea Project,' visiting Jebudo Island in Hwaseong City to announce these crackdown plans and inspect the site.

The special judicial police unit will expand the scope of investigations into unfair crimes in residents' lives, including damage to natural environments, illegal medical practices, animal cruelty, counterfeit petroleum, collusion on housing prices, and embezzlement of social welfare subsidies. Measures to eliminate unfair real estate transactions will also be strengthened. The province operates a speculative real estate monitoring system and makes preemptive pinpoint designations of land transaction permit zones when signs of speculation appear. Accordingly, the province designated 211.28㎢ of forest land in 29 cities and counties as land transaction permit zones on June 29, equivalent to 73 times the area of Yeouido.

Additionally, the province will change the name of 'local autonomous entities' to 'local governments' to establish horizontal relationships between central and local governments, and will also pursue pilot operation of a Gyeonggi-type autonomous police system that reflects the province's special security needs.

■Center of the Era of Peace
Gyeonggi Province will strengthen the province's status for Korean Peninsula peace cooperation and internationalize the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) as a symbolic destination for peace, despite deteriorated inter-Korean relations. In particular, as 'human security'—protecting all aspects of daily life including disasters, diseases, and environment rather than just military security—has emerged as an important agenda in the international community following COVID-19, the province plans to proactively strengthen inter-Korean exchange and cooperation in the health and medical sectors.

Additionally, humanitarian cooperation including support for livestock disease management, joint response to disasters in border regions, and provision of food, medicine, and basic living supplies to recover ethnic homogeneity will be promoted together.

To peacefully utilize the inter-Korean joint waters of the Han River estuary, the province plans to invest an estimated 2.8173 trillion won over 10 years from this year through 2030 in four areas with 15 projects including inter-Korean joint surveys of Han River estuary ecology and fishery resources, restoration of waterways, and construction of inter-Korean pedestrian bridges, taking into account developments in inter-Korean relations.

Various events individually promoted in the DMZ area will be united under a single brand 'Let's DMZ' and cultivated as a representative brand symbolizing Gyeonggi Province's DMZ and peace, and efforts to jointly register the DMZ as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site will continue.

To achieve balanced development of northern and eastern Gyeonggi regions, the Second Regional Balanced Development Project will be pursued for five years until 2024. Target areas are six cities and counties including Gapyeong, Yangpyeong, Yeoncheon, Pocheon, Yeoju, and Dongducheon, with a total investment of 416.8 billion won in 36 projects including LPG pipeline construction, improvement of transportation and tourism infrastructure, agricultural and fishing water supply development, and parking environment improvement.

■Gyeonggi Province Guaranteeing Humane Living with Welfare+
Following the resolution of welfare blind spots through Gyeonggi-type emergency welfare support and Gyeonggi Province low-credit small loans, the province plans to establish a dedicated institution (tentative name) Gyeonggi Common People's Financial Foundation next year to provide customized financial welfare services. The foundation will be responsible for Gyeonggi-type small finance support, debtor-centered debt adjustment, and linking welfare services.

In the second half of this year, the province will operate a 'Gyeonggi Fair Welfare Task Force' to block welfare leakage such as fraud and misuse of subsidies, secure transparency in the welfare budget, and realize 'fair welfare without violations.'

The province will tighten the welfare safety net further so everyone can enjoy a humane life. A Center for Employment Support for the Disabled will be established next year to support disabled persons' independence, and support for building a social safety net including health and housing support for single-person households will be provided. The province will support the establishment of a public postpartum care center in Pocheon next year and plans to gradually expand community care centers to resolve childcare gaps for elementary school students. A 'Gyeonggi Youth Support Task Force,' a private-public cooperative intermediate support organization supporting policy participation and mutual exchange among Gyeonggi Province youth and supporting the province's youth policies, will be established and operated.

The province will discover and expand quality jobs for elderly people in the Gyeonggi-type model and plans to gradually expand the current Gyeonggi Women's Employment Support Fund, which supports job-seeking women entering the labor market with 300,000 won per person for three months.

Additionally, the province will strengthen a medical environment without health disparities by establishing and operating public hospitals at Ansseong rest areas on expressways, supporting 30 million won per facility for CCTV installation in private medical institution operating rooms, operating multi-person hyperbaric oxygen chambers capable of treating more than 10 gas poisoning patients simultaneously, and designating and operating mental health emergency medical institutions.

■Gyeonggi Province Where All Share the Benefits of Economic Growth
The focus of economic policy is regional currency-type basic income that increases disposable income to create effective demand. Gyeonggi Province believes that the economic circulation effects of disaster basic income have been confirmed, basic income is being actively discussed at the national level, and the foundation for public discourse has been established. Therefore, during the second half, the province plans to establish an institutional foundation including 'Basic Income Act.' The province will support the activities of social discussion bodies such as the National Assembly 'Basic Income Research Forum' and the Gyeonggi Provincial Council 'Basic Income Research Group,' and will continue efforts to spread consensus through the launch of a (tentative name) Basic Income Local Government Council and the 'Basic Income Korea Expo.' The province will introduce farmer basic income, providing individual farmers with a certain amount through regional currency for the first time nationally, and will also conduct demonstration experiments selecting rural villages through OECD's first selection to provide basic income to all residents of villages. The province will enhance the convenience of Gyeonggi regional currency by expanding mobile simple payment methods such as app cards and QR codes and will also pursue securing stable circulation volumes through new policy development.

In conjunction with the government's 'Korean New Deal,' the province will pursue the Gyeonggi-type New Deal project and is preparing around 100 projects in three areas: digital new deal, green new deal, and human new deal. Along with implementing customized job policies responding to changes in employment conditions and job demands in the post-COVID era, the province plans to create new jobs by establishing digital and renewable energy infrastructure.

For small and medium-sized merchants and business owners, a second round of restart fund investing in the experience of failed enterprises will be organized at a scale of over 10 billion won, and support funds for businesses expanding employment will be increased. A 'Hope District' project will be implemented for commercial communities where population hollowing is feared due to relocation of government offices or nearby large-scale redevelopment, and (tentative name) Gyeonggi Social Economy Institute will be established to strengthen the competitiveness of social economy enterprises.

Additionally, the province will establish a foundation for fostering advanced industries such as smart cities, smart factories, data industry, drone industry, and virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR), and will construct a materials, parts, and equipment (materials/components/equipment) industry ecosystem through support for technology development for localization of materials, parts, and equipment items with high external dependence and infrastructure construction such as Yongin semiconductor cluster industrial complexes (large and small-medium business coexistence zones) and semiconductor small-medium business industrial parks (Ansseong, Pyeongtaek).

■A Livable Gyeonggi Province Through Improved Living Environment
A Gyeonggi Province where everyone wants to live and move to is realized through convenient transportation, human-centered urban spaces, clean environment, and safe living.

With the establishment of Gyeonggi Transportation Corporation, the province will implement stable services by securing routes based on public interest and plans to strengthen the guarantee of basic transportation rights in transportation-disadvantaged areas and increase resident convenience through customized bus operations. In October, the province will pilot operate a Gyeonggi Premium Bus differentiated from existing metropolitan buses with luxury vehicles and reservation-only service on 7 routes in three cities—Suwon, Yongin, and Hwaseong. The Suin Line (opening in '20), Jinjub Line (opening in '21), Shinansan Line (opening in '24), and Seoul Metropolitan Area Rapid Transit (GTX) will be supported to proceed without delays.

The province will strengthen regional resilience by enabling Third Panjiao Techno Valley, Ilsan Techno Valley, and other new industry innovation clusters currently under development to begin early construction, and will supply 200,000 public rental housing units by 2022 and 10,000 customized Gyeonggi Happy Housing units for youth and newlyweds by 2022. Additionally, the province will pursue the establishment of the Gyeonggi Environment and Energy Promotion Agency with the goal of opening in early next year to respond to environmental policy issues and secure expertise.

The province will pursue the enactment of 'Gyeonggi Province Cultural Autonomy Basic Ordinance' to institutionally guarantee everyone's access to culture, and will expand non-face-to-face cultural and arts programs and non-face-to-face lifelong learning systems in line with the changed environment following COVID-19.

To realize provincial residents' safety and happiness, the province will establish a Gyeonggi Province Smart Integrated Situation Room system to prepare thoroughly for natural disaster prevention, will prepare construction site safety management systems, and will pursue the establishment of a Gyeonggi-type industrial safety center.