Ministry of Interior and Safety Announces Plan to Establish Local Administrative System Reform Committee

In response to the Council of Mayors of Major Cities (hereafter referred to as the Mayors' Council), composed of basic local governments with populations of 500,000 or more, including Suwon, which called for legislation promoting local government consolidation last December, the government announced that it will establish a "Local Administrative System Reform Committee (tentative name)."

Additionally, the Mayors' Council decided to recommend to the government that it exempt user fees imposed on state-owned property occupied by local governments, arguing that such fees are unjustified.

The Mayors' Council held its first regular meeting of this year on the 18th at the Jeonju Traditional Culture Center to discuss proposals aimed at enhancing special exceptions and status for major cities.

At the regular meeting, the Mayors' Council reported on the response to a proposal calling for legislation to promote local government consolidation that was delivered to the government on December 5 of last year.

According to the report, the Ministry of Interior and Safety responded on January 19 that "local administrative system reform is one of the government's '100 major state affairs' and will be pursued in cooperation with the National Assembly."

The ministry also stated that it will establish a "Local Administrative System Reform Committee (tentative name)" when a special committee on administrative system reform is formed in the National Assembly, and will actively support the National Assembly's discussions on administrative system reform.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety responded that it will actively review proposals from the Mayors' Council as part of future discussions on administrative system reform.

Additionally, a proposal submitted by Suwon City on improving the system of user fees for state-owned property occupied by local governments was presented at the meeting.

According to the proposal, the current State-Owned Property Act allows free use of state-owned land by local governments for up to one year when used for public purposes or public interest projects. However, when the occupation permit period is extended, the state currently imposes user fees.

Accordingly, the Mayors' Council decided to propose that the "user fee exemption provision" under Article 26, Section 1, Paragraph 2 of the State-Owned Property Act be applied to state-owned land used by local governments for public purposes (public office buildings, parks, and green spaces).

Meanwhile, proposals presented at the meeting also included amending the Road Traffic Act to consolidate the authority to crack down on illegal parking and stopping on bicycle paths and general roads (submitted by Changwon City) and including commendations from basic local government heads as reasons for disciplinary mitigation (submitted by Goyang City).

Furthermore, at the first meeting on the 18th, Pohang Mayor Park Seung-ho was elected as chairman of the Council of Mayors of Major Cities, succeeding Suwon Mayor Kim Yong-seo, the former chairman.