Governors call for more autonomy in provinces

The Governors’ Association of Korea yesterday called for “a country with a decentralized administration” during its conference held at Jinju City Hall in South Gyeongsang.

The association said governors should have more autonomy in managing various issues, such as education, taxes and security.

“Many developed countries are aiming for a decentralized country to utilize local governments toward national competitiveness,” the association said.

The group also said that local offices of education, which are now controlled by the central government, should be under provincial control.

“The current educational system in local cities cannot meet the demand of many people,” the group said. “The local offices of education need to be governed by local governments to have real autonomy on their own issues.”

The governors also said the direct election of superintendents of education should be abolished.

“When the mayor of a province and the superintendent of education, who are elected directly by local people, have different ideas and policies about education in the same region, it can cause confusion,” the group said.

They also asked the National Tax Service to allocate more revenue to local governments, which are suffering from budget deficits.

By Hwang Sun-yoon, Kim Hee-jin [heejin@joongang.co.kr]