Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il: "Special Law on Support for Special Municipalities Must Be Enacted Swiftly"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Choi Ki-ho] On the 12th, Yongin Special Municipality Mayor Lee Sang-il emphasized that the five special municipalities including Yongin must actively explain the positions of special municipalities and request support from the President's Office, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the National Assembly's Committee on Administration and Safety, and ruling and opposition parties in order to enact the 'Special Law on Support for Special Municipalities,' grant legal status befitting the standing of special municipalities, and secure fiscal special authority.

The mayor made these remarks at the '2025 First Half Regular Meeting of Korea Special Municipality Mayors Council' held at the Marina Club House at Jungok Port in Hwaseong on the afternoon of that day.

The meeting was attended by Mayor Lee, along with Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun, Goyang Mayor Lee Dong-hwan, Hwaseong Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun, and Changwon Acting Mayor Jang Geum-yong. Following Hwaseong's elevation to special municipality status this year, Hwaseong Special Municipality formally participated in the Korea Special Municipality Mayors Council meeting for the first time this year.

Mayor Lee Sang-il stated, "In order to implement better administration for the citizens of the five special municipalities including Yongin, we must secure the necessary authority through enactment of the 'Special Law on Support for Special Municipalities,'" and emphasized, "Special municipalities must secure formal legal status, not just in name, and we must also secure fiscal authority through special law enactment, such as having special municipalities receive a certain ratio of acquisition tax and raising coordination subsidy payments."

The mayor said, "Currently, over 1,200 bills are pending in the National Assembly's Committee on Administration and Safety. For swift enactment of the special municipalities support special law, we need to promptly confirm schedules for meetings and public hearings with the Committee on Administration and Safety, and it is necessary to deliver the proposal to be transmitted by special municipalities to the Minister of Interior and Safety also to the Presidential Political Affairs Senior Secretary, floor leaders of each party, the chairman of the Committee on Administration and Safety, ruling and opposition party floor managers of the committee, the Prime Minister's Office State Coordination Bureau, and others."

Mayor Lee and other special municipality mayors signed a proposal to be sent to the Minister of Interior and Safety at the meeting.

The proposal contains matters including the enactment of the 'Special Law on Support for Special Municipalities' with contents on △securing legal status for special municipalities, △fiscal special arrangements befitting expanded administrative functions of special municipalities, and △substantive transfer of affairs to special municipalities.

Mayor Lee Sang-il and others requested that Article 2, Paragraph 1, Item 2 of the 'Local Autonomy Act' be amended to explicitly designate 'special municipalities' as one type of independent local government body distinct from 'cities, counties, and districts' as 'special municipalities, cities, counties, and districts.'

They also demanded the establishment of a substantive fiscal support base by raising the financial resources for coordination subsidy formation (47%→67%) and raising the collection subsidy payment (3%→10%).

The proposal stated that "the current 'Local Autonomy Act' and related laws only grant special municipalities names but lack substantive transfer of authority and administrative and fiscal support, limiting the effectiveness of the special municipality system," and emphasized that "for special municipalities to realize resident-centered autonomous administration and lead regional development, legal status recognition and financial and institutional support must necessarily accompany this."

Meanwhile, the Special Municipality Mayors Council accepted Mayor Lee Sang-il's opinion and decided to prepare another proposal urging swift enactment of the 'Special Law on Support for Special Municipalities' to send additionally to the President's Office, the National Assembly's Committee on Administration and Safety, floor leaders of ruling and opposition parties, and the Prime Minister's Office.

At the meeting that day, matters including △election of the representative chairman and auditor of the Korea Special Municipality Mayors Council, △review of 2025-2026 business plans and budget proposals, △promotion of meeting with the National Assembly's Committee on Administration and Safety, △delivery of proposal for enactment of special law on support for special municipalities, △promotion of civic participation campaign urging enactment of special law, and △plan to promote meeting with the Korea Special Municipality Council Chairmen's Council were discussed.

The five special municipality mayors attending the meeting agreed to mobilize an active cooperation system for swift enactment of the special municipalities support special law proposed by the government and National Assembly members.