The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) will establish related units to focus on an "artificial intelligence (AI) government," "revitalizing resident self-governance," and "restoring the social solidarity economy."
Minister Yoon Ho-jung said at a press briefing at Government Complex Seoul on the 5th that the MOIS will create an "AI Government Office," a "Local Autonomy Innovation Office," a "Social Solidarity Economy Bureau," a "Basic Society Policy Division," and a "Public Participation Policy Division," as part of a reorganization.
The MOIS said this reorganization is to implement 10 key tasks the ministry will pursue. The Minister said, "We will be reborn as a democratic AI government," adding, "We will innovate the existing approach, in which 'a citizen's application' must precede use of administrative services, and promote one-stop service across administrative services so that we can 'reach out first even without a citizen's application and provide the necessary services in one place.'"
The Minister also said, "We will enact the 'Basic Act on Citizen Participation' to enable the public to participate routinely across the entire policymaking process and to build a foundation for constant communication with the government," adding, "We will codify resident councils and strengthen the effectiveness of the resident recall system."
Regarding the role of resident councils, an official at the MOIS said, "They carry out policies, gather opinions, and conduct community activities related to residents' daily lives at the eup-myeon-dong level," adding, "They play a role in resolving pending issues by reflecting residents' opinions, such as creating safer streets through participatory budgeting, improving the surrounding environment, and addressing inconveniences with local restrooms. The plan is to institutionalize such resident councils and activate them as the foundation of grassroots democracy."
The ministry also said it will restore the role of the social solidarity economy, including cooperatives and social enterprises. The Minister said, "The social solidarity economy is essentially rooted in localities, but once it became a policy of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), it failed to take root locally, and policy volatility was severe, including budget cuts when administrations changed," adding, "We will enact the 'Basic Act on the Social Solidarity Economy' to ensure steady growth of the social solidarity economy."
The strengthening of local governments' authority was also emphasized. The Minister said, "We will foster the '5 poles and 3 special zones' wide-area megaregions and support regional development through fiscal decentralization, including improving the national-to-local government tax ratio and raising the grant-in-aid (non-earmarked tax) rate," adding, "We will radically change support systems for non-capital regions and population-declining areas by overhauling the investment targets of the 'Local Extinction Response Fund' and improving the criteria for designating population-declining areas."
In addition, the Minister pledged ▲enactment of the Basic Act on Life Safety ▲enactment of the (tentative) Social Disaster Response Act ▲support for the Korean National Police Agency and the National Fire Agency ▲preparations for the launch of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency.