"We Cannot Leave Memory to Local Governments"...Debate Ignites Over Shifting Responsibility to the State

Assembly Member Jung Boksun Calls for Redesign of the Status of the Korea Studies Advancement Center and the Independence Movement Memorial Hall

A weighty agenda was raised on the floor of the Andong City Council, calling for a reestablishment of the status and role of local humanities and history institutions. The key point was that responsibilities long borne by local governments should now be elevated into the realm of national responsibility.

Assemblymember Jung Boksun is delivering a five-minute speech.

Assembly member Jung Boksun, in a five-minute free speech, urged a fundamental review of the legal status and operational structure of the Korea Studies Advancement Center and the Gyeongsangbuk-do Independence Movement Memorial Hall. She argued that while their functions have already gone beyond the local level and reached the level of national policy, the institutions are still confined within the framework of local government-funded organizations.

Assembly member Jung pointed out that "as their role grows, a system is needed that can guarantee stable funding and long-term strategies," adding that under the current structure it is difficult to sustainably push forward large-scale projects. In other words, there is a gap between the pace at which the institutions are growing and the institutional support behind them.

She noted that the Korea Studies Advancement Center has established itself as a key national hub for collecting and preserving an extensive body of traditional records, and has expanded its scope of activities through the construction of a digital archive and the strengthening of international exchanges. However, she explained that within the fiscal framework of a provincial-level government, there are clear limits on personnel and budget management, making it difficult to stably design projects on a national scale.

She also pointed out that the cultural and educational programs operated on a nationwide scale suffer from unclear lines of responsibility. Although these programs effectively have the character of national projects, the financial burden and operational risks are paradoxically placed on local governments, she argued.

She applied the same standard to the Independence Movement Memorial Hall. Collecting and passing down the memory of the independence movement, she stressed, is not a task confined to a specific region but an area directly connected to national identity. Therefore, she argued, the operation of the institution should be shifted to a model in which the central government is responsible for its stability.

Regarding the view that "there are not many precedents," she countered that this is a matter of policy design. Given the scale of the documentary heritage, the accumulated expertise, and the institution's international standing, she said, the conditions are sufficient to begin discussions on turning it into a national institution.

Assembly member Jung proposed establishing an official consultative framework involving the National Assembly, the central government, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, and Andong City, in order to draw up a roadmap for the phased transition of legal status, financial burden-sharing, and management systems. She forecast that if such changes are realized, Andong could leap beyond being merely a place of preservation to become a central hub for designing the nation's humanities strategy.

There comes a point at which an institution nurtured by a region effectively becomes a national asset. Problems arise when that boundary is not clearly defined. Its functions expand toward the center, while responsibility and burden remain with the region. The remarks delivered that day are less a demand from a particular city than a question directed at the Republic of Korea about what kind of system it will use to manage its historical and spiritual assets. The pace of institutional reform may be slow, but changes on the ground are already knocking at the door.