Ulsan Mayor Kim Doo-kyum said on the 19th, "When local governments do well, the nation does well, and many authorities held by the central government need to be transferred to the local level."
Attending K-BALANCE 2025 at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center in Ulju County, Ulsan, that afternoon, Kim said, "If national land use authority, autonomous legislative authority, and autonomous administrative authority, as well as autonomous taxes authority, are transferred to the local level, localities will naturally build competitiveness."
Under the current Local Autonomy Act, local governments have the authority to enact a local government ordinance, but provisions restricting residents' rights or imposing obligations can be set by ordinance only with a clear delegation by law. As a result, criticism has continued that it is structurally difficult to craft policies suited to local circumstances.
For example, the Act on Urban Parks and Green Areas uniformly defines prohibited acts within urban parks by the central government. Representative prohibited acts include restrictions on street vending and the requirement to leash companion dogs, leaving regions in a situation where it is difficult to enact tailored local government ordinances.
In addition, current issues such as setback limits for livestock barns, adjustments to qualifications for fishing rights, and regulations on coastal development are also difficult for local governments to address by autonomously creating a local government ordinance, and there is a risk they may be invalidated as an "excess ordinance." In response, the Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Balanced Development has launched a study on "measures to revise laws and regulations in regulated fields to expand autonomous legislative authority."
Kim said, "Ulsan has grown alongside local autonomy since it was upgraded to a metropolitan city in 1997," adding, "It has served as an engine and key indicator for Korea's economy, and Ulsan's four flagship industries—automobiles, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, and nonferrous metals—have led the national economy."
He added, "However, the concentration in the greater Seoul area and population decline are serious problems faced by all local cities," and "Ulsan, too, has reached growth limits due to these trends, labor shortages in traditional manufacturing, rising costs, and global oversupply."
As a way to overcome these limits, Kim pointed to construction of an artificial intelligence (AI) data center in partnership with SK. He said, "The SK AI data center being built in Ulsan aims to begin operations in '27, and we plan to expand it up to 1 gigawatt."
He continued, "Ulsan has accumulated manufacturing technology over the past 60 years and also has the energy needed for AI training," adding, "Ulsan University, UNIST, and the Ulsan Office of Education are working together to run AI talent training programs, and we will play a central role in the government's goal of leaping into the world's top three in AI."