With a strong push for administrative integration of metropolitan local governments ahead of the local elections, People Power Party-affiliated leaders of Busan and South Gyeongsang Province called for "adjusting the pace."
The People Power Party held a forum titled "The direction and tasks of Busan–South Gyeongsang administrative integration" at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 11th. The forum was prepared to seek an integration model and solutions that would allow Busan and South Gyeongsang Province to secure substantial autonomous authority in connection with the Lee Jae-myung administration's push for administrative integration.
Jeong Jeom-sik, the People Power Party's policy committee chair who organized the forum, said, "If we are to pursue integration, we must first and foremost heed the will of residents. We should confirm opinions through a referendum and see what authorities can be devolved to the local level," adding, "This is not something to force through with speed. Machangjin (Masan, Changwon, and Jinhae) ultimately lost all its autonomy. We need to grant ample autonomy so that citizens can pursue the good policies they want."
People Power Party-affiliated local leaders attended the forum in person and offered their views. All took the position that a sufficient level of autonomous authority is necessary.
Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon said, "Integration without decentralization will not work. Busan–South Gyeongsang is twice the size of Gwangju–South Jeolla and twice that of Daejeon–South Chungcheong," adding, "If this region lacks autonomous authority and the central government–subordinate procedures and systems are left as is, another internal imbalance will arise. Without the authority to freely allocate budgets and without land-use rights, we will inevitably have to cling to the central government."
South Gyeongsang Gov. Park Wan-su said, "For administrative integration to happen, we must grant autonomy at the level of a fully fledged local government, enough to establish a dual structure between Seoul and the regions," adding, "This is not a matter to conclude by offering special incentives such as providing 5 trillion won annually. Instead of region-by-region special integration laws, we should first create a basic law on integration and clearly guarantee the status of autonomous authority."
Park Jae-yul, standing representative of the Busan Citizens' Coalition for Decentralization and Balanced Development, who served as a discussant, cited the case of Osaka, Japan, and emphasized the importance of resident consent procedures. Park said, "If procedural legitimacy is not secured, it will be difficult to bear the conflict expense after integration," adding, "The administrative integration of the city of Osaka and Osaka Prefecture was voted down by narrow margins in two referendums in 2015 and 2020. Pushing ahead without a referendum is dangerous."
He went on to say, "Rather than arguing only about whether to do it in June, we must first decide what to design and how. Emphasizing only speed without verification and design is not the answer," adding, "To show the sincerity of integration, we must carry out a one-point constitutional amendment on local decentralization in this local election to guarantee legislative, fiscal, and organizational autonomy."