Mayor Yeom Tae-young of Suwon: "Special Status Cities Will Become a New Engine of Development"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Mayor Yeom Tae-young of Suwon stated, "Special status cities will be granted appropriate local autonomy rights to enable administration that brings out each region's distinctive characteristics," adding, "This will also open paths for other regional cities to have separate special provisions and respond to issues such as population decline."

Mayor Yeom participated on the 12th afternoon in an online debate titled "Suwon Story—Studying Suwon on Wednesdays" hosted by the Suwon 2049 Citizens Research Institute, where he directly explained special status cities to citizens.

Mayor Yeom Tae-young stated, "The four special status cities have jointly identified 421 administrative affairs and are collaborating to enable administrative services tailored to population scale, projects suited to regional characteristics, and simplification of administrative procedures," adding, "When special status cities are launched on January 13 next year, citizens will no longer face discrimination they previously experienced, and actual quality of life will improve."

He continued, "Moving away from uniform local government systems, it is very important for each local government to wear clothes that fit their size and build, and to have their own unique provisions in various forms so they can respond to national balanced development and regional depopulation issues. Opening administrative affairs provisions to cities with over one million residents was the first step," presenting the view that diversification of special status cities in various forms is necessary.

He also told citizens, "Special status cities represent breaking away from existing administrative frameworks and creating a new local government model," emphasizing, "Rather than just external growth, we should carefully fill in actual content, and as we look forward to January 13 next year, I urge everyone to join together in creating new engines of development."

Mayor Yeom Tae-young stated, "During my seven-plus months of service as a senior committee member, I endeavored to convey field voices to the central government, introducing ordinances supporting essential workers and creating meaningful change," and revealed his conviction by saying, "Politics that ignores voices from the field can never stand firmly."

He also made the case that politics should evolve toward decentralization. He said, "We must change the top-down political structure centered on influential politicians, and establish a system where diverse new political figures are discovered starting from grassroots local politics—the beginning of grassroots democracy—and systematically nurtured."

Meeting with citizens through the online program today, Mayor Yeom Tae-young looked back on his past 11 years of achievements, including "hosting Eco-Mobility World Expo Suwon 2013" and "resolving conflicts over the Gwanggyo Water Source Protection Zone," reflecting, "With the participation of many citizens as our driving force, we obtained the decisive power for Suwon's development."

Regarding responses to Gyeonggi Province's plan to relocate public institutions, he stated, "While I sympathize with the intent of balanced development, it is regrettable that the process of gaining stakeholder understanding was omitted," and repeatedly emphasized, "We must consult on methods to minimize shock and disadvantage so residents face no inconvenience."