Seo-gu Council Member Ko Kyungae's Proposal Urging Legalization of Residents' Autonomous Council Adopted

Call for Prompt Passage of Legislation
to Legalize the Residents' Autonomous Council

Members of the Gwangju Seo District Council are announcing a petition. Photo by Gwangju Seo District Council

At the 333rd extraordinary session of the Gwangju Seo-gu Council, the petition urging the legalization of the Residents' Autonomous Council, proposed by Assemblywoman Ko Kyungae (Hwajeong 3-dong, Hwajeong 4-dong, Pungam-dong), was adopted.

The residents' autonomy system established its institutional foundation after the Residents' Autonomy Committee was launched under the Kim Daejung administration in 1999, and through a pilot project in 2013. Notably, in Gwangju Metropolitan City, all 96 neighborhoods transitioned to Residents' Autonomous Councils last year, achieving full implementation of the system.

However, during the comprehensive revision of the Local Autonomy Act in 2020, the provisions related to the Residents' Autonomous Council were deleted, resulting in the loss of a legal basis for its operation and exposing institutional limitations.

In response, the Seo-gu Council emphasized, "Legalization of the Residents' Autonomous Council, which plays a key role in identifying local issues, seeking solutions, and revitalizing the community, is urgently needed to ensure stability and sustainability." The council called for the prompt passage of the legislation on the legalization of the Residents' Autonomous Council currently pending in the National Assembly, the establishment of administrative and financial grounds for stable operation in the era of decentralized autonomy, and the guarantee of sustainable residents' autonomy in this era of national sovereignty.

Assemblywoman Ko Kyungae, who sponsored the petition, stated, "Legalizing the Residents' Autonomous Council, the key entity of grassroots democracy, is a task that cannot be postponed any longer," adding, "I will continue to work with residents to promote decentralization and strengthen residents' autonomy."