City demands reform of regional preference index designation system
Guri issued a position statement Wednesday calling for reform of the government's "regional preference index" system, which determines how municipalities are classified and supported under a balanced-development initiative.
In the statement, titled "We call for improved criteria for the regional preference index — reverse discrimination hidden behind 'physical distance' from Seoul," Guri said the index, introduced by the government to address regional depopulation and promote balanced development, instead applies unreasonable criteria that fail to account for disadvantaged areas already suffering under the current system.
The city proposed two alternatives to the government and the Local Era Committee: a comprehensive overhaul of the physical-distance and uniform indicators used in the index, and the creation of new exemption provisions for underdeveloped areas in the greater Seoul area subject to overlapping regulations.
The following is the full text of the position statement.
Guri expresses regret over the contradictions in the current index calculation method and the structural reverse discrimination faced by municipalities adjacent to the greater Seoul area, in connection with the Ministry of Interior and Safety's ongoing work on the regional preference index and zone-based municipal designations, and calls for reform of the system.
The government introduced the regional preference index to address the risk of regional depopulation and promote balanced development. However, one of its core indicators — distance from Seoul — fails to account for disadvantaged areas within the greater Seoul area that are already suffering under layers of overlapping regulations.
Guri is already designated as an "overpopulation-control zone" under the Metropolitan Area Readjustment Planning Act, subjecting it to a range of administrative and tax regulations designed to curb the concentration of population and industry. On top of that, the city faces overlapping restrictions including development-restriction zones, military facility protection zones and land-transaction permit zones.
Despite facing these regulations precisely because of its proximity to Seoul, the city's actual development indicators and fiscal conditions are no better than those of many small cities in other regions.
If Guri is classified into the most disadvantaged "Zone 1" solely on the basis of its physical proximity to Seoul and uniform socioeconomic indicators, the city's residents will inevitably fall behind in quality of life and regional development.
Guri therefore calls on the government and the Local Era Committee to take the following steps.
First, a comprehensive overhaul of physical-distance and uniform indicators.
The city calls for separate corrective indicators that go beyond simple distance from Seoul and instead reflect each municipality's actual fiscal self-reliance, demographic changes and regional socioeconomic disparities in detail.
Second, new exemption provisions for underdeveloped and over-regulated areas within the greater Seoul area.
To correct the contradiction in which municipalities already stripped of development opportunities by stringent regulations — including overpopulation-control zone and land-transaction permit zone designations — are also excluded from balanced-development support, the city calls for differentiated benefits by zone and new exemption provisions for regulated areas.
Guri said it will continue to actively respond to central government policies and reforms to protect the rights and interests of its 190,000 residents and ensure the city's sustainable growth. The city urged the government to listen to voices from the ground, reflect again on what balanced development truly means, and conduct a full review of the system.
Wednesday
Guri Mayor Shin Dong-hwa
pjh@heraldcorp.com
