The ruling Democratic Party has decided to officially name the Daejeon-Chungnam Special City integration as 'Chungnam Daejeon Integrated Special City,' with the abbreviation 'Daejeon Special City.' The related special law is scheduled to be proposed as a party bill on the 30th.
The Democratic Party's Special Committee for Daejeon-Chungnam Integration and Chungcheong Region Development (Chungcheong Special Committee) held a meeting at the National Assembly on the 29th and agreed on this decision. Representative Hwang Myung-seon, the committee's standing committee chairman, stated, "The official name of the integrated special city will be Chungnam Daejeon Integrated Special City, with the abbreviation Daejeon Special City."
The operation of the integrated special city hall will be carried out by maintaining the existing Daejeon City Hall and Chungnam Provincial Office. Detailed matters such as the location of the main city hall and the address of the integrated special city will be decided after the election of the integrated mayor.
Representative Park Jung-hyun, the co-chairman of the committee, mentioned that they mainly discussed concerns about local autonomy and fiscal decentralization in relation to the special law's special provisions. He stated, "Originally, we composed the bill with 280 special provisions, including 60 additional ones from the initial 229," and added, "We decided to further refine the bill to strengthen local autonomy, especially fiscal decentralization."
The Chungcheong Special Committee submitted the special bill to the party's legislative support team on the same day, and the bill is expected to be proposed as a party bill on the 30th along with the Jeonnam-Gwangju integration special law. The committee aims to pass the special law in the National Assembly plenary session by the end of next month after undergoing deliberation by the parliamentary administration and safety committee.
Representative Park explained, "Since the content should be similar to the Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City integration special law, some adjustments are necessary," and added, "Based on continued consultations with the government, the integrated special law for Chungnam Daejeon will be created." He further stated, "We aim to pass the special law before the Lunar New Year, but we will have to wait and see the deliberation process in the next week's administration committee."
However, obstacles are expected in the integration process as both the Mayor of Daejeon and the Governor of Chungnam are from the main opposition party. Mayor Yoo Seung-min recently expressed concerns, stating, "If a bill that does not meet the realization of local autonomy is proposed, significant resistance is expected," and emphasized, "If members of the main opposition party retreat from the original bill they have proposed, then a reevaluation will be necessary."