Over 500,000 Population 'Special City' Back on the Agenda

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 9th and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The proposal to designate cities with populations exceeding 500,000 as special cities has resurfaced.

On the 9th, the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee held a party-government consultation on the amendment to the Local Autonomy Act. Han Byung-do, the ruling party secretary of the committee and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, told reporters immediately after the consultation, "This issue was extensively discussed during the 20th National Assembly but no conclusion was reached, so it carried over to the 21st National Assembly." He added, "Through the first party-government consultation, the government explained the main points and several lawmakers expressed their opinions, but no conclusion was reached."

The amendment to the Local Autonomy Act submitted by the government on the 3rd centers on recognizing cities with populations of 1 million or more, and those with populations of 500,000 or more as designated by presidential decree, as special cities. Representative Han said, "There were reports and discussions on various issues such as policy support personnel and revitalization of resident autonomy," and added, "The lawmakers agreed to convene soon to hold separate discussions."

Regarding whether financial support would be provided upon designation as a special city, no discussion took place. Representative Han mentioned, "There are various opinions on how to designate special cities, such as whether the threshold should be 1 million or 500,000. There are several contentious issues, including concerns that those not designated might feel further discrimination."

The National Council of Mayors of Large Cities, a gathering of local governments with populations over 500,000, discussed criteria for selecting special cities and proposed amendments to laws related to expanding special city status for large cities with populations over 500,000 at their regular meeting on the 8th. They also held the final report meeting for the "Research on Special Status for Large Cities with Populations over 500,000," which has been promoted through the Korean Local Autonomy Association since last September.

Proposed special administrative tasks include granting authority over urban planning facility decisions, improving the market value of registration and license taxes, transferring financial responsibilities such as environmental improvement charges and metropolitan transportation facility charges, expanding standards for establishing local government administrative organizations, and relaxing standards for establishing local research institutes. The council is reportedly planning to appeal to the National Assembly and central government for the necessity of expanding special status based on these proposals.