18-Day Regular Session to Review and Approve 190 Agenda Items
New Grade 3 Director Position Established in the Council Secretariat
The Seoul Metropolitan Council will hold its 331st regular session for 18 days, from June 10 to June 27. During this session, the council will conduct questions on Seoul’s municipal administration and educational affairs, and will review and vote on 190 submitted agenda items.
For the 331st regular session, a total of 190 agenda items have been received, including 123 proposed by council members, 51 submitted by the Mayor of Seoul, 10 submitted by the Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and 6 citizen petitions.
Choi Hojung, Chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, stated in the opening address, “I hope this regular session will thoroughly examine the effectiveness of policies and pressing issues affecting citizens’ livelihoods.” Choi added, “We must consider the will of the people as expressed in the 21st presidential election held last week,” and continued, “Let us strive in all matters so that citizens themselves can exclaim, ‘I am happy to live in Seoul.’”
During this session, the settlement of accounts for the 2024 fiscal year and the first supplementary budget proposal for 2025 from both the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education have been submitted. Chairperson Choi said, “With economic growth expected to remain in the 0% range this year, tax revenues are tight, and fiscal expenditures are increasing due to urban aging and population aging. Therefore, I ask you to approach project planning, budget formulation, budget review, and approval of settlements with rigor and a strong sense of responsibility.”
Of the 1.6 trillion won supplementary budget submitted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, after deducting legally mandated expenses such as transfers to the Office of Education and local districts, the available budget for independent projects is approximately 450 billion won.
Regarding the onset of heat waves and the monsoon season, Chairperson Choi remarked, “While the climate crisis is a global phenomenon, its impacts are not equally distributed,” and urged, “Since, like other disasters, the socially vulnerable are affected first, please make every effort to prevent heat-related illnesses and flooding caused by heavy rain.”
Additionally, Chairperson Choi stated, “To prevent citizens from worrying about ground subsidence, the Seoul Metropolitan Council is devising ways to secure a stable budget for this issue without infringing on the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s budgetary authority,” and emphasized, “Even if immediate risks are not visible, failure to conduct timely maintenance will shift the burden to future generations. Now is the time to focus on the basics,” calling for proactive consideration from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
Regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in May to side with the Seoul Metropolitan Council on the “Ordinance on Supporting the Guarantee of Basic Academic Ability,” Chairperson Choi pointed out, “Despite the highest court having made a legal judgment, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education issued a press release expressing ‘deep regret’ over the ruling,” and criticized, “As an executive agency, it is common sense and the most basic attitude of mutual respect in our community, which operates under the separation of powers, to respond by doing its utmost to implement the decision without confusion.”
Chairperson Choi further pointed out, “Due to the irresponsibility of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, tens of thousands of Seoul students leave school each year without even basic academic skills.” He added, “Fortunately, the supplementary budget proposal this time includes funding related to basic academic ability, which is a welcome sign of the superintendent’s commitment to this issue.”
Meanwhile, following the opening ceremony on June 10, the Seoul Metropolitan Council passed amendments to the “Ordinance on the Establishment of the Seoul Metropolitan Council Secretariat,” which mainly establishes a new director-level (Grade 3) position in the Secretariat. This amendment follows the change on May 20 to the Presidential Decree on the “Regulations on the Staffing of Administrative Organizations of Local Governments,” which now allows the Seoul Metropolitan Council and the Gyeonggi Provincial Council to have a Grade 3 legislative affairs director.
During this regular session, starting with policy speeches by the Mayor and the Superintendent on the submission of the 2025 supplementary budget proposal, the council will conduct two days of questions on Seoul’s municipal administration and educational affairs from June 11 to June 12. From June 13 to June 26, the standing committees and the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts will review agenda items, including the supplementary budgets for the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. On June 27, the plenary session will be held to address all submitted agenda items.
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