[Public Voices] Hong Nayoung, Sejong City Council Member: "Toward an Institution Where Research and Education Functions Thrive Together"

Hong Nayoung, Member of the Sejong City Council, People Power Party.

On August 12, I was appointed as a member of the first-ever Personnel Hearing Special Committee of the Sejong City Council, tasked with vetting Kwon Younggeol (Chairman of the National Architecture Policy Committee), the nominee for Director of the Sejong Lifelong Education and Policy Research Institute. This brought about a special sense of responsibility for me.

The significance of holding the first personnel hearing since the launch of Sejong City, combined with being the first special committee member for such a hearing in the city council, made me feel a profound sense of responsibility for various reasons.

In 2016, as part of a mutual cooperation project with Daejeon, our city established the Sejong Research Office within the existing Daejeon Development Institute, launching the Daejeon-Sejong Research Institute. With Sejong's unprecedented urban growth as the largest planned city in the nation's constitutional history, and a surge in research on urban policy following the establishment of the National Assembly Sejong Office and the presidential office, there have been ongoing calls for Sejong to establish its own independent research institute?the only metropolitan local government in the country without one.

However, the ordinance bill to establish an independent policy research institute in Sejong was voted down by the relevant standing committee, citing insufficient collection of public opinion. The city subsequently conducted surveys and legislative notices for citizens, but in February, the proposal was rejected again, with concerns that merging the two institutions would diminish their functions.

During the 97th extraordinary session, I used my five-minute address to urge the establishment of an independent Sejong Lifelong Education and Policy Research Institute under the theme, "Independence from the Daejeon-Sejong Research Institute! The Golden Time for the Sejong Lifelong Education and Policy Research Institute!" I have consistently advocated for moving beyond theoretical discussions to establish a research institute that integrates field-oriented policy research and education, enabling a virtuous cycle of operations. While opinions remained sharply divided, Daejeon was pushing for amendments to the relevant ordinances in order to operate its own research institute, and discussions on administrative integration between Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province were gaining momentum. In this challenging environment, Chairman Lim Chaeseong of the Sejong City Council exercised his authority to bring the proposal to a vote, finally passing it after a difficult process.

At the end of April, during a meeting of the Administrative Welfare Committee regarding the launch of an independent research institute, I was the only council member to express a positive outlook. I emphasized that the Sejong Lifelong Education and Policy Research Institute should become a new paradigm mega-think tank, leading as Sejong's independent research institution. I hope it will become an organization where research and lifelong education functions coexist and thrive together.

Now, with the political landscape having shifted to "ruling party majority, opposition minority," I am committed to doing my utmost in vetting the nominee to ensure that the Sejong Lifelong Education and Policy Research Institute, as a public institution, has a clear vision and can drive both policy research capacity and innovation in lifelong education for the citizens of Sejong.