Daejeon Mayor Lee Jangwoo: "Administrative Integration Announcement... Does Not Reflect the President's Intentions"

Special Act for the Establishment of Daejeon-Chungnam Special City Secures 8.8774 Trillion Won Annually...
Government Proposal Offers Only 5 Trillion Won Per Year
"Authority Must Be Boldly Transferred to Exempt the Integrated Special City from Preliminary Feasibility Studies for 10 Years"

Lee Jangwoo, Mayor of Daejeon (Photo by Mo Seokbong)

On the morning of the 16th, Lee Jangwoo, Mayor of Daejeon, expressed disappointment regarding the administrative integration special city support measures announced by Prime Minister Kim Minseok. He stated, "Compared to President Lee Jaemyung's bold vision for the transfer of authority and his promise of strong support, the briefing was very inadequate," adding, "It does not align with the President's intentions."

At an emergency press conference held at 11:20 a.m. in the city hall briefing room, Mayor Lee said, "The original special act for the establishment of Daejeon-Chungnam Special City was supposed to secure an annual budget of 8.8774 trillion won. However, the government’s proposed integration special case only provides 5 trillion won per year, which is a significant difference. The plan vaguely mentions supporting 20 trillion won over four years, but there is no explanation about what will happen afterward," expressing his disappointment.

He continued, "It is difficult to make a final judgment based on the government’s announcement alone," and emphasized, "Support for the integrated city must be clearly stipulated in the special act."

Details of Additional Financial Securing for Daejeon City Included in the Special Act for the Establishment of Daejeon-Chungnam Special City

Mayor Lee stated, "Prioritizing the relocation of public institutions is only natural," and added, "After Naepo New Town and Daejeon City were designated as innovation cities, there were no follow-up measures. Therefore, the relocation of public institutions should be carried out extensively, and I will interpret this as a commitment to relocate high-quality institutions."

He welcomed the transfer of special local administrative work, saying, "Tasks currently performed by agencies such as the Daejeon Regional Employment and Labor Office, Daejeon Regional Environmental Office, Regional Land Management Office, and the Veterans Affairs Office that should be handled directly by the local government must be boldly transferred."

He also stressed, "This time, we must completely resolve the irrational structure where even minor projects like river dredging, gateball courts, or park golf courses require consultation with the Ministry of Environment."

Mayor Lee also pointed out issues with the preliminary feasibility study process.

He said, "If you want to pursue a project worth more than 50 billion won, the preliminary feasibility study process can delay it by several years. Even just exempting projects from this requirement could shorten the timeline by about two years."

He continued, "For example, to properly carry out a project, it might require 80 billion won or even 90 billion won, but local governments are currently reducing the scale to 49 billion won to avoid the preliminary feasibility study and push forward with the project."

He added, "If this continues, after using the facility for one or two years, or a few more years, there will again be a shortage of facilities. We need to take a long-term view and plan administration for the next 100 years, but that is not happening. While we should manage the feasibility study process ourselves, I ask for a bold transfer of authority so that the integrated special city is exempted from preliminary feasibility studies for the next 10 years."