Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il: "Special Law for Special Self-Governing Cities Essential for Development Aligned with Local Realities"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Choi Ki-ho] Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin Special Self-Governing City held separate resident dialogue sessions on the 4th in Dongbaek 1-dong and Dongbaek 2-dong of Giheung-gu, introducing the city's development and discussing local issues.

At the resident dialogue session in Dongbaek 1-dong, opinions were raised that residents wished for an increase in public transportation frequency to improve convenience for commuting to Seoul and inter-regional travel.

Jeong Eun-suk, chairman of the Dongbaek 1-dong Youth Guidance Committee, said, "When moving from Dongbaek to Seoul or Suwon, there are not many bus routes, and the intervals between departures are too long, which is inconvenient."

Kim Hyo-sung, director of the public transportation division, said, "In line with the opening of GTX-A Seongseong Station at the end of this month, we plan to increase the frequency of local bus routes," and added, "We will actively petition the Metropolitan Wide Traffic Committee to replace aging vehicles with new ones and expand metropolitan bus routes considering citizens' travel convenience."

Resident Tak Ji-eun said, "The construction of the Dongbaek 1-dong Administrative Complex is scheduled to begin next year, but due to insufficient parking space in the design, we need to research ways to secure parking space before construction starts."

Lee Jong-hwan, director of public architecture division, said, "Through several meetings with the Dongbaek 1-dong Administrative Complex promotion committee last year, we have been seeking ways to expand parking space at the complex," and explained, "However, in the Gyeonggi Province investment change review, which is a preliminary procedure for building the complex, the average area of public building parking is applied in consideration of equity among 31 cities and counties in the province, so the parking lot at the complex is practically limited to a basement level size."

The mayor said, "If it is difficult to secure parking space inside and outside the complex, we should review measures such as sharing parking lots of nearby apartments and discuss providing some kind of incentive to apartment residents."

The mayor said, "Special Self-Governing City Yongin has to go through the Gyeonggi Province gateway just to build one administrative complex for citizens," emphasizing, "Yongin is already handling administrative affairs equivalent to metropolitan cities, but we are notifying Gyeonggi Province of matters such as changes to complex establishment plans and waiting for approval. Since this does not match the times, it is absolutely necessary to enact a special law supporting special self-governing cities that comprehensively transfers administrative and financial authority from the province to the special self-governing cities."

At the Dongbaek 2-dong resident forum, residents made suggestions for improvements to the community center website system and improvements to deteriorated sidewalks.

Hwang Young-han, chairman of the Dongbaek 2-dong community autonomy committee, said, "When the city amended ordinances last year, the standard for multi-child families changed from three to two children, and about 1,000 people in 82 classes at the Dongbaek 2-dong community center are receiving tuition reduction benefits," and pointed out, "However, residents must submit multi-child verification documents every quarter, which is bothersome and also consumes significant administrative resources."

The mayor answered, "We will work to link the Ministry of Interior and Safety's non-face-to-face data verification service with the city website so that citizens with multiple children can conveniently use the community center."

Meanwhile, the mayor has been conducting visits to all 38 eups, myeons, and dongs in the area starting from the 1st to communicate openly with residents and listen to their inconveniences. On the 7th, the mayor will continue the resident dialogue session at Mabuk-dong in Giheung-gu.