Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun: "The 40-Year-Old Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act Must Be Revised to Fit Current Needs"

On the 19th, Lee Jae-jun, Mayor of Suwon, argued at a forum held at the National Assembly that "the 40-year-old Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act should be revised to better fit current needs."

Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun asserted that "the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act, which was enacted 40 years ago, needs to be revised to fit the current circumstances."

At the 'National Assembly Forum for the Revision of the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act' held on the 19th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, Meeting Room 2, Mayor Lee said, "Suwon City’s fiscal independence rate has been halved over the past 20 years, and this is likely the case for other local governments in the 'Overconcentration Control Zone' as well," emphasizing, "It is time to readjust the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act, which causes reverse discrimination against capital region local governments."

He also pointed out, "Advanced countries that enacted similar laws to the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act recognized the problems and revised the laws to strengthen national competitiveness," adding, "The excessive tax rates imposed on companies located in the overconcentration control zone local governments should be adjusted first." He further added, "Revising the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act can enhance national competitiveness."

The forum was co-hosted by 10 National Assembly members from local governments in the 'Overconcentration Control Zone,' including Kim Young-jin, Baek Hye-ryun, and Kim Seung-won, and jointly organized by Suwon City, 10 other local governments in the overconcentration control zone, and the Suwon City Research Institute.

The forum proceeded with a keynote presentation by Professor Kim Gap-sung of Yonsei University’s Department of Urban Engineering, presentations by Hong Sa-heum, Director of the Land Planning and Evaluation Center at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, and Yang Eun-soon, Director of the Urban Management Research Office at the Suwon City Research Institute, followed by a panel discussion.

In his presentation titled "Capital Region Readjustment Planning and Paradigm Shift," Professor Kim Gap-sung argued, "Considering the low birthrate and low growth structure, the capital region readjustment plan must be revised," and emphasized, "A Mega Region strategy should be implemented to build a network centered on regional metropolitan cities."

Yang Eun-soon, Director of the Urban Management Research Office, in her presentation titled "National Growth Management through Capital Region Regulation Relaxation," stated, "Although the capital region was regulated for balanced development, balanced growth has failed," and stressed, "There is a need to shift from 'capital region growth suppression' to 'capital region growth management policy' to strengthen national competitiveness."

Hong Sa-heum, Director of the Land Planning and Evaluation Center, in his presentation titled "The 4th Capital Region Readjustment Plan and Overconcentration Control Zone Management," mentioned, "Even within the same zone, differentiated management tailored to regional characteristics should be promoted," and added, "It is necessary to consider changes in conditions such as visualizing the outcomes of balanced development policies in the mid to long term and review changes to the zone system."

Meanwhile, panelists for the discussion included Lee Won-hee, President of Hankyong National University; Lee Young-sung, Professor at Seoul National University Graduate School of Environmental Studies; Lee Beom-hyun, Professor of Urban Design and Information Engineering at Sungkyul University; Lee Dong-wook, Professor of IT Convergence Business at Bucheon University; Lee Hye-in, Officer of the Capital Region Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; and Kang Sik, Senior Research Fellow at the Gyeonggi Research Institute.