Gyeongju Mayor Ju Nak-young. [Gyeongju City]
Gyeongju Mayor Ju Nak-young. [Gyeongju City]

Gyeongju Mayor Ju Nak-young has been elected chair of the North Gyeongsang Province Mayors and County Chiefs Council for the first half of the ninth directly elected term.

The council held its first regular meeting of the ninth term at Stanford Hotel in Andong on Wednesday, unanimously selecting Ju to lead the body for the first half of the term.

In the role, Ju will represent the mayors and county chiefs of all 22 municipalities in North Gyeongsang Province, conveying regional concerns to the central government and proposing policy and institutional reforms to advance local autonomy.

The council also plans to mount a joint response to the threat of regional depopulation driven by the low birth rate and population decline, while pushing for greater decentralization and stronger fiscal independence for local governments.

"The 22 cities and counties will join forces to tackle the depopulation crisis together, and I will do my utmost to serve as a bridge between North Gyeongsang Province and the central government in pursuit of genuine decentralization and fiscal self-reliance," Ju said.


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