A system improvement is being promoted to allow local government recommended personnel to participate in government committees, ensuring that regional opinions are systematically reflected from the stage of national policy formulation. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Government Legislation, and the Association of Korean Provincial Governors announced on the 16th that they had approved 20 presidential decree amendments to expand the participation of local officials in government committees at a cabinet meeting.
This amendment aims to establish an institutional foundation to reflect the characteristics and field demands of regions in national policy tasks that need to be discussed jointly by the central and local governments. The Ministry of Government Legislation has been promoting this based on the discussions of the ‘National Policy and Legislative Participation Improvement Task Force (TF)’ formed with the Association of Korean Provincial Governors and academia since August last year.
The TF reviewed the relevance of government committee agendas to local affairs over a year and selected the legal grounds for 102 government committees where local officials’ participation is highly necessary. Subsequently, opinions from the Association of Korean Provincial Governors, four major local councils, and 17 cities and provinces were collected, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety reviewed the need for legal amendments with each relevant ministry.
As a result, it was decided to promote the revision of 55 laws under the jurisdiction of 11 ministries, including the Ministry of Climate and Environment. Legislative procedures were carried out for 26 laws and 20 presidential decrees. At this cabinet meeting, 20 presidential decree amendments were approved, and 22 of the laws to be revised are currently submitted to the National Assembly for discussion.