Korea - Local Government
Since the nation’s founding, Korea has promoted administrative efficiency through a number of administrative re-organizations. In the midst of these changes, a -do-oriented (province-oriented; -do is the Korean name for a province) administrative district system of the Joseon Dynasty is the basis for the modern metropolitan administrative system in Korea. In 1995, an overall provincial administrative reform was carried out. This reshuffling integrated cities and counties and aimed at balancing development between growing urban and declining rural areas, securing land for urban development, promoting administrative efficiency, and addressing inconsistencies between spaces of daily life and administrative districts.
Local autonomy refers to various activities through which a self-governing body representing the residents within a certain regional boundary carries out its political and administrative decision making while maintaining relative independence from the central government. In this global era, the growing demands for improving regional competitiveness, inter-regional equal development, and resident-oriented administrative services have necessitated local autonomy more than ever.
Local autonomy mainly consists of autonomous power over local affairs and an independent budgetary capacity in a geographical region with an explicit boundary where residents and a self-governing body are located. Local governmental autonomy has been a recent global trend.
The local self-governing body that plays a key role in local autonomy in Korea is the administrative organization that maintains close relations with its residents. The local self-governing body is constituted of local residents, and it forms a legal entity. There are two types of self-governing bodies in Korea; macro-level bodies such as the Special City, Metropolitan City, Special Autonomous City, Do or Special Autonomous Province, and primarylevel bodies such as Si, Gun or Gu.
Local residents may participate in local autonomy mainly through elections. The local residents elect both the members of local councils and the heads of local governments. Both macro-level and primarylevel local councils are accordingly constituted. The heads of local governments include the mayor of the Seoul Special City, the mayor of the Metropolitan City, the governors of Dos, and heads of Guns and Autonomous Gus. The heads of local governments may request that residents vote on important matters which impose an excessive burden to the government or have a significant effect on the residents. The residents also have the right to recall the head of the local government or local council members.
A special self-governing province is one in which a high level of self-governing authority is guaranteed, as opposed to the authority granted to other ordinary provinces. Such provinces are endowed with exceptional authority commensurate with regional conditions so that they can make autonomous policy decisions and take responsibility for their own governance.
The National Assembly passed the Special Act on the Establishment of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Development of the Free International City during a plenary session on February 9, 2006. Based on this Special Act, the former “Jeju Province” officially became “Jeju Special Self-Governing Province” with its new legal status and title effective as of July 1, 2006.
Accordingly, Jeju has acquired autonomy, including self-legislative power, self-governing administration, rights of self-organizing and personnel administration, and financial autonomy. In addition, the special self-governing province has adopted an advanced decentralization model which incorporates an educational autonomy system and an autonomous police system, in contrast to other ordinary local governments.
In July 2012, Sejong Special Self-Governing City became one of the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces in the Republic of Korea, with the aim of addressing the problems associated with overpopulation in the Seoul Capital Area and of pursuing balanced national development. Over the eight years through 2020, more than 60% of the government ministries have moved here: 43 central administrative organizations and 19 public institutions.
President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to turn the eastern province of Gangwon-do into a high-tech and tourist hub. South Korea's eastern province of Gangwon-do is set to become a high-tech powerhouse and tourist hub for the nation as it sheds the red tape that had been holding it back. President Yoon Suk Yeol attended a ceremony on 09 June 2023 to mark the launch of the province's special self-governing status, which went into effect on 11 June 2023.
As Gangwon-do launched itself as "Gangwon State," the province hopes to utilize land that was restricted and heavily regulated by central government ministries, under laws related to military districts, forestry, environment, and agriculture. According to the local provincial government, over 21-thousand square kilometers has been under red tape, stalling opportunities to improve the quality of life and development in the region, altogether amounting to some 62-point-eight trillion won.or 48 point-six bilion dollars, in estimated losses.
It was difficult to develop the area as there were so many separate regulations applied on different zones, which needed to be processed by different bodies. But its new status will help Gangwon fast-track regulatory procedures and gain freedom to develop its niche areas.
By gaining self-governing powers, and easing regulations, Gangwon State authorities would have greater flexibility to speedily build residential areas, factories, tourist attractions, transport links, and other infrastructure. Also, the province is expected to gain various advantages like Jeju and Sejong City, such as a separate account for funding, and greater autonomy in setting up policies on foreign investment, tourism, and education.
Jeollabuk-do Province in January 2024 became the fourth self-governing province in the country. Leaving behind the name 'Jeollabuk-do,' which has been used for 128 years, the province is to take the new name of 'Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province' starting from Jan. 18, 2024.
Local self-government refers to a governing system that eligible residents who live in a bounded geographical area select their representatives and let them run their local government with relative autonomy from the central government. The local self-government system was implemented in Korea in 1952, four years after the establishment of the Republic of Korea on August 15, 1948. The Local Autonomy Act was enacted in 1949, but local autonomy was not implemented during the period of political upheaval, including the Korean War, the April 1960 Student Revolution, the May 1961 Coup d'etat. Local self-government lasted only for nine years during the rule of Lee Syngman and the succeeding regime, then degenerated into malfunction and chaos.
With the rise of authoritarian rule after Park Chung Hee's military coup, local elections were abolished, and the constitution postponed implementation of local autonomy indefinitely until the hypothetical future unification of the Korean peninsula.
The assassination of President Park in 1979 and the rise of the Fifth Republic re-established a constitutional base for local self-rule. The country adopted the local autonomous system in June 1995.
Local governments are divided into high-level and low-level local governments. With the inclusion of Sejong Special Autonomous City in July 2012, the number of high-level local governments was increased to seventeen (i.e. Seoul Special City, six metropolises, eight provinces, and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province). The number of low-level local governments stands at 226 (i.e. si/gun/gu).
The heads of local governments and councilors are elected through direct election. The term for local government heads is four years, and they can be reelected for up to three terms. There is no limit on how many terms a local councilor may serve. The local autonomous system is very significant as a means of realizing the goal of grassroots democracy through local residents’ participation.
The Constitution of the Republic of Korea states in Article 117 that "local governments deal with matters pertaining to the welfare of local residents, manage properties and may, within the limit of laws, enact provisions relating to local autonomy regulations." Local government heads manage and supervise administrative affairs except as otherwise provided by law. The local executive functions include those delegated by the central government such as the management of public properties and facilities and assessment and collection of local taxes and fees for various services.
Higher-level local governments basically serve as intermediaries between the central and lower-level local governments. Lower-level local governments deliver services to the residents through an administrative district (eup, myeon, and dong) system. Each lower-level local government has several districts which serve as field offices for handling the needs of their residents. Eup, myeon, and dong offices are engaged mainly in routine administrative and social service functions.
Local governments are considered part of the executive branch and thus are controlled by the central government. (Here "local governments" refers broadly to all sub-national governments.) However, some degree of local autonomy has been given to the 16 higher-level (provincial) governments and 34 lower level (municipal) governments. This autonomy resumed, after a time lapse of more than thirty years, on July 1, 1995 - a date marking a return to direct, popular elections for local chief executives. Prior to this, local governments had been simply local branches of the central government, with the latter appointing and dispatching the chiefs. Despite the change, the autonomous power of local governments at this point remains quite limited. Virtually all major policies, including those specifying local government functions, taxation, resident welfare and services, and personnel management, are determined by the central government.
As a result of rural-urban mergers and consolidation among cities since 1995, the total number of autonomous bodies had fallen to 244 as of July 1, 2012. The total number comprises 17 regional governments and 227 municipal governments. The regional governments include Seoul Metropolitan City, Sejong City, 6 metropolitan cities (Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan), and 8 provinces (Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Chungnam, Chungbuk, Jeonnam, Jeonbuk, Gyeongnam, Gyeongbuk) and Jeju Province.
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