The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 17th that a special local government composed of four cities in the Chungcheong area—Daejeon, Sejong, Chungbuk, and Chungnam—will be launched on the 18th.
The special local government composed of four cities in the Chungcheong area will hold its first temporary allied council meeting on this day to elect the first alliance head and council chairman. The term for the alliance head is one year and for the council chairman, it is two years.
The launch of the special local government is the first since the enforcement of the revised Local Autonomy Act in 2022. Special local governments are established when two or more local governments need to jointly handle regional affairs for a specific purpose. For this, the four cities in the Chungcheong area went through preparation processes such as establishing local government ordinance and rules, organizing, and setting up offices after gaining approval for the agreement from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in May this year.
According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, special local governments form separate heads and local councils and possess autonomy within the scope of affairs stipulated by the agreement. This includes authority in personnel and organizational matters, and the power to establish local government ordinance and rules.
The organization of the Chungcheong Metropolitan Alliance consists of 60 members, including 41 at the alliance office and 19 at the alliance council office. Members are officials from the four local governments, working in a dispatch format.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that the gross domestic product of the Chungcheong Metropolitan Alliance, which is being launched this time, is expected to reach 290 trillion won. It also noted that as the first case of launching a special local government, further connections and cooperation in other regions are expected to be activated.
Goh Ki-dong, acting Minister of the Interior and Safety, said, “The Chungcheong Metropolitan Alliance is a leading model of a new form of local governance led by the region and supported by the government for balanced development. We will not spare our support to ensure its smooth operation, closely coordinating with the four cities even after its launch.”