Chairman Kim In-ho of Seoul Metropolitan Council's Broad Moves... Background?

Chairman Kim Continues On-Site Visits, Meets Lee Nak-yeon, Leader of the Democratic Party, and Jin Young, Minister of the Interior and Safety, Requesting Passage of Local Autonomy Act Amendments and Easing of Local Bond Issuance Standards; Actively Engages Separately from the National Council of Chairpersons of Metropolitan Councils

The Seoul Metropolitan Council chairpersons, including Kim In-ho, Chair of the Seoul Metropolitan Council (fourth from the left), met with Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, to request the passage of the Local Autonomy Act amendment and other matters.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Kim In-ho, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, is expanding his activities.

Chairman Kim is a tenacious local politician who, after losing the election for the first half of the 10th Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairmanship and reflecting deeply for two years, unexpectedly gained overwhelming support from first-term council members and became the Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, which oversees the 10 million Seoul city administration, by a large margin.

Since assuming office as the Chairman of the second half of the 10th Seoul Metropolitan Council on July 1, Chairman Kim has continued his on-site visits, including Seoul's COVID-19 quarantine sites, Ttukdo Arisu Water Purification Center, small business sites around Jangwi-dong in Seongbuk, and the Dongdaemun-gu Cheongnyangni Fruit and Vegetable Market, which suffered a fire.

Meanwhile, recently, following Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon, he visited Jin Young, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, expanding his scope by requesting cooperation for the revision of the Local Autonomy Act.

On the afternoon of the 15th, Chairman Kim held a luncheon meeting in Yeouido with Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon and Secretary-General Park Kwang-on, actively proposing local council demands such as the passage of the Local Autonomy Act revision bill in this regular National Assembly session and strengthening practical fiscal decentralization. At this meeting, Chairman Kim requested the Democratic Party's active interest and support to ensure that the full revision bill of the Local Autonomy Act submitted to the 21st National Assembly is definitely processed within this regular session, and asked for amendments in the direction demanded by local councils, including the introduction of ‘professional policy support personnel for local councils and independence of personnel authority.’

Regarding the independence of personnel authority for local councils, he proposed revising the original government-submitted bill, which limits the scope of introduction to metropolitan and provincial councils, to include basic councils as well, advocating for the independence of personnel authority for all local councils.

Subsequently, on the 23rd, Chairman Kim visited Jin Young, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and proposed easing the restrictions on local bond issuance due to the decrease in Seoul's tax revenue caused by the COVID-19 crisis and regional economic contraction (from 25% to 30%), early implementation of the second phase of fiscal decentralization (local consumption tax from 21% to 31%), national government support for Seoul's public transportation services, and active review of the full revision bill of the Local Autonomy Act.

In addition, when Seoul City planned to hold a public hearing to raise public transportation fares due to Seoul Transportation Corporation's management difficulties, including a deficit reaching 1 trillion won caused by COVID-19, Chairman Kim blocked the plan citing citizens' hardships, causing it to fail.

In this way, Chairman Kim is showing a check-and-balance approach not only in his political activities but also regarding major Seoul city policies.

In particular, his actions demanding Seoul city issues and Local Autonomy Act revisions through meetings with Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon and Minister Jin Young of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety are notable as they appear to be independent moves separate from the nationwide metropolitan city and provincial council chairpersons.

Chairman Kim In-ho (right) visited Jin Young, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

A Seoul Metropolitan Council official said, “Historically, the Chairmen of the Seoul Metropolitan Council have served as the chairpersons of the nationwide metropolitan council chairpersons' association as the senior metropolitan council, but excluding the Seoul Metropolitan Council this time is a mistake,” adding, “The Seoul Metropolitan Council has no difficulty in taking such actions even without joining the nationwide metropolitan chairpersons' group.” He also added, “Considering that nationwide city, county, and district councils as well as metropolitan cities and provinces have offices in Seoul, there are inevitably limitations for local council chairpersons in negotiating with the National Assembly and others.”