By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
The governing and opposition parties Monday expressed support for President Lee Myung-bak's drive to re-zone the country's 246 administrative districts into 60-70 municipalities, calling for implementation of the plan by 2014.
``There is no better time than the present to start discussing the project if we are to see its completion by 2014," Rep. Huh Tae-yeol of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) told reporters at the National Assembly.
The issue is closely related to the 2012 presidential and National Assembly elections.
``If we decide to keep the current administrative system until that year, those running for the 2012 elections will not be affected by new administrative districts and therefore will be able to take part in an active debate on the issue,'' he said.
The current system was introduced almost a century ago and has often faced criticism over administrative efficiency.
Latest surveys show that 43 percent of Koreans are in favor of the government's plan to streamline administrative units.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said Monday that it will reinforce incentives for cities that initiate administrative mergers with adjacent municipalities before local elections in 2010.
For example, Guri and Namyangju in Gyeonggi Province or Changwon and Masan in South Gyeongsang Province, have begun discussions to become one.
The basic idea behind the scheme is to reduce the number of municipalities in the country to between 60 and 70 by merging municipalities that are close geographically and share a similar regional sentiment.
The mergers are aimed at enhancing efficiency, increasing dual benefits and providing support for smaller localities with relatively less financial self-sufficiency.
For legislative preparations, an ad-hoc committee was set up earlier this year, headed by Rep. Huh.
The governing party is planning to use the forthcoming parliamentary session to produce concrete measures to expedite the administrative mergers with cooperation from opposition parties.
``The ad-hoc committee on administrative mergers is a result of discussions I had with the President last September. We look forward to fruitful discussion through the bipartisan committee,'' Chairman Chung Sye-kyun of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said.
President Lee, who has called for the re-zoning of administrative districts since taking office, stressed its necessity again during a speech marking the 64th anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial rule Saturday.