By Kim Rahn
President Moon Jae-in is seeking a Constitutional revision to set up “Second Cabinet” meetings which will include mayors and governors of 17 local governments.
During a meeting with the municipality heads at Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday, Moon, said he would decentralize power for co-development of the capital and the provinces.
“As a campaign pledge, I promised to set up a decentralized system tantamount to a federal one, as well as Second Cabinet meetings comprised of municipality heads,” the President said. “So when seeking Constitutional revision next year, I plan to set the legal grounds for such meetings and add clauses to strengthen local governments’ authority.”
His comments were in line with the election pledge: During campaigning, Moon promised to seek a referendum to amend the Constitution alongside local elections slated for June 2018, to limit excessive presidential authority, empower local governments and reform the election system.
The President also said it would take more than a year for the revision and full implementation of the system even if the Constitution is revised. “So until then, I suggest we have these kind of meetings regularly, or whenever needed, to discuss regional development,” Moon said, telling the local government heads to suggest holding a meeting anytime they have something to discuss.
The participants consented to Moon’s proposal, saying such meetings will help them deliver the needs from local governments and people in the provinces to the President directly.
Moon also asked for the local governments’ support for his job creation efforts. The central government submitted a supplementary budget bill worth 11.2 trillion won ($9.95 billion) last week, and 3.5 trillion won of it was earmarked for municipalities.
“The purpose of the extra budget bill is to create jobs, so I ask you to use the money for creating jobs according to each region’s needs,” he said. “We’ll review your job-related projects, and the central government will benchmark successful cases.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon explained to them the details of the supplementary budget bill.
Gangwon Province Governor Choi Moon-soon, who is the head of the Governors Association of Korea, said the municipality heads agreed on the need for job creation and they would cooperate. Some local governments have already set their own extra budget plans along with that of the central government, he said.
“We ask for the President’s efforts to disperse power, budgets and information to all parts of the country, so regional polarization will be alleviated,” Choi said.
Heads or acting heads of all the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces took part in the meeting. Other participating government officials included Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, Interior Minister Hong Yun-sik, Office of Government Policy Coordination head Hong Nak-ki, presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok, chief of staff for policy Chang Ha-sung, and presidential job committee vice chairman Lee Yong-seop.