'Will seek cooperation from ruling and opposition parties to enact local council law'
National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik met Friday with Nam Jong-seop, chairman of the Korea Association of City and Provincial Council Speakers, and council leaders from across the country at the Assembly's reception room, discussing ways to reform the system to strengthen local council capacity and build a framework for cooperation with the National Assembly.
"Local councils have been at the heart of local autonomy's development since the system was restored in 1991," Cho said. "I am deeply grateful for the dedication of the council speakers who have worked tirelessly to invigorate local councils."
Cho also said that during his time as the ruling party's policy committee chairman, he had pushed for a comprehensive revision of the Local Autonomy Act, a process that yielded meaningful progress in 2022 when local councils gained independent personnel authority. "The National Assembly will work alongside local councils to improve and advance the systems needed to strengthen their independence, autonomy and expertise — the foundations of grassroots democracy and the driving force of local self-governance," he said.
Stressing the importance of strengthening local self-governance capacity for balanced national development, Cho said local councils must expand regional authority and responsibility to raise their governing capacity and contribute to balanced development across the country. He added that greater autonomy in organizational and budget management must be in place to allow local councils to fulfill their core roles. "I will seek cooperation from the ruling and opposition parties to ensure the local council bill currently before the National Assembly moves forward smoothly," he said.
Cho also said he would actively support efforts to build sustained cooperation between the National Assembly and local councils across legislation, policy and training, and to expand exchanges between Assembly-affiliated institutions and local councils to enhance their overall capacity.
Nam said he was glad to have a forum for dialogue on local council issues despite the Assembly's busy schedule. "I believe that if the National Assembly, which views the country from a broad perspective, and local councils, which closely observe regional realities, work well together, we can produce better laws and policies going forward," Nam said.
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