Present local government of south korea structure and operation mechanism

Study purposes Pointing out major features of the structure and operation mechanism of present local government in South Korea with its Vietnam 3.2.. Study objects Structure and operat

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Acknowledgement

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all eminent scholars for their comments on this study, especially Preofessor Pham Quoc Thanh who has been my supervisor and introduced me 3 years ago to the world of Politics in Vietnam I hope that this study will be more useful tool to understand on Local government of Korea

Graduate student

EOM JI YUN

Contents

INTRODUCTION - 4 -

1 Reasons for this study - 4 -

2 Overview of studies involved - 5 -

3 Purposes and tasks of the study - 6 -

4 Objects and scale of the study - 6 -

5 Study methods - 7 -

6 Findings of the dissertation - 7 -

7 Dissertation structure - 7 -

CHAPTER 1 SOME THEORETICAL MATTERS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMPARATIVETHEORETICAL FRAMEWORK - 8 -

1.1 Definition on local government - 8 -

1.2 Definition on structure of local government - 13 -

1.2.1 The Chief Executive Officer - 13 -

1.2.2 The Council - 15 -

1.2.3 The Executive Committee - 16 -

1.2.4 The Staff of Local Government - 17 -

1.3 Limited Power of The Local Government - 18 -

1.4 Fiscal Structure of The Local Governments - 20 -

CHAPTER 2 STRUCTURE AND OPERATION MECHANISM OF LOCAL GOBERNMENT IN COMPARISON - 23 -

2.1 Local Autonomy Law - 23 -

2.2.2 Local Government of Vietnam - 30 -

2.2.3 Generalization on local government structure in Vietnam and Korea - 34 - 2.2.4 Major similarities and causes - 37 -

2.2.5 Major differences and causes - 42 -

2.3 Local government operation mechanism - 46 -

2.3.1 Generalization on local government operation mechanism in - 46 - 2.3.2 Similarities and Causes : Focus on Local Councils, Local Government Representative and Citizen Participation - 50 - 2.3.3 Differences and Causes : Focus on Local Councils, Local Government Representative and Citizen Participation - 60 -

CONCLUSION - 69 - REFERENCES - 71 -

List of Abbreviations

ordinance in 2007 by the Decree No.79/2003/ND-CP

Supervision Board

INTRODUCTION

1 Reasons for this study

It can be said that certain democracy is established through the effectively completed decentralization of power, not just formal meanings

In terms of this view, the government of Korea is still trying to reach to this completion

The Korea achieved totally democratic form of local government system caused by vote of both the local government head and members of local council in the year 1995 The form of local government system means that local government has certain freedom with decentralization of authority from the central government and can be means of acquisition for

a real democracy as local people are attended

Local government is usually authorized for itself to achieve legally both local system and residential self-government According to the Local Government Act in Korea, the local government has very important responsibilities which are trying to improve local people‟s convenience and benefit in public and to rationalize its organization and operating Especially the local council represents local people including people‟s thinking and play a role as supervisor to monitor whether the policy from local government head is right To these acts, the local council has variety powers legally such as voting right, empowerment for the local council, administration inspection and right to investigate for government Moreover the role of local council‟s monitoring has more significant position

2 Overview of studies involved

I was looking for references especially on structure and operation mechanism of Vietnamese then I came across to “Joint Donor Report to the Vietnam Consultative Group Meeting on Modern Institutions” That is not internal report of Vietnam that is why it could let me have a disinterested attitude on doing study This reference showed that what they have core object for local people in local governing closed more to the people and what they have weakness point on a position related to their central government, especially it captured downward accountability trend from central to provincial units in terms of administration and financial support, and how this trend meet obstacle with efficiency and transparency including basic solution plan that I can refer

With “Final Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam Adopted by the National Assembly”, I went through about what major component of that is different from Korea based on Constitution for operation and composition

in local government of Vietnam The relation of between people‟s council and people‟s committee has clear distinction from Korea‟s one Moreover

in terms of representative principle coming from the citizens, it would show a little ambiguity that local election of Vietnam cannot reflect totally

in particular

While studying on innovation of local government of Korea, I referred

“Korean Government Innovation: Strategies and Methodologies for

Administrative Innovation.” It was about analysis for improved

government reform that for example, participation of citizen have increased sharply in all areas of local politics and affect straightly with a variety of voice from citizen Accordingly, this reference suggested that which measurement can accommodate these demands and give a proper way

The crucial matters this study showed were related to connection between local and central governments That was of course based on hierarchy structure under central unit‟s control Thus I have considered how this relation can be restructured and in light of this I brought the report called

“Report of the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy” into this study This report was to give an overview of positive interaction between local and central authorities and regional authorities in States were regional authorities have legislative powers affection local government These relationships will allow the identification of good practices and show which actors participate in exchanges further future

3 Purposes and tasks of the study

3.1 Study purposes

Pointing out major features of the structure and operation mechanism of present local government in South Korea with its Vietnam

3.2 Tasks

- Defining some important concepts

- Structured the system of present local government in South Korea

- Model the operation mechanism of present local government in South Korea

- Clarifying pros and cons of present local government in South Korea

4 Objects and scale of the study

4.1 Study objects

Structure and operation mechanism of present local government in South Korea

4.2 Scale of the study

- Scale of time: 01 2017 – 12 2018

- Scale of space: local areas of South Korea and Vietnam

- Scale of contents: structure, operation mechanism and their

attached strengths and weaknesses

5 Study methods

- Approach of political study

-Quantitative and Qualitative methods; logical-historical method; comparative method; etc

6 Findings of the dissertation

- Interpreting some thesis-related theoretical issues

- Structured the system of present local government in South Korea and model the operation mechanism of present local government in South Korea

- Explaining some positive and negative characteristics of present local government in South Korea

- Giving some practical recommendations

7 Dissertation structure

The study includes 4 parts, namely Introduction, Content, Conclusions, References The Content comprises 2 chapters:

CHAPTER 1

SOME THEORETICAL MATTERS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMPARATIVE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

1.1 Definition on local government

As a first step, we need to define the key concepts being employed here The term „region‟ is used in the literature in diverse ways Regions can be analyzed in economic, political or historical terms; or they can be established physically according to natural factors like mountains and rivers or artificially by government

John Glasson suggests that the concept of a region has evolved through two distinct phases reflecting economic advance [7, pp.20-21] Magnus Jerneck classifies regions into micro-regions and macro- or world ones that comprise the totality of several neighboring countries [12, p.23] John P Blair divides regions into three large groups: functional regions, distinguished by the degree of economic integration ; homogeneous regions, based on internal similarity, and administrative regions, formed for managerial or organizational purposes [13, p.52] In this research region implies mainly the last of Blair‟s classification and, in the Korean context,

„regional‟ refers to „provincial‟ with the administrative body (the province) equivalent to a region in many respects However, the term region is used

in macro- or multi-national as well as sub-national contexts since causes of richness or poverty, and their prescriptions are likewise applicable to both scales of region [13, p35]

„Regional policy‟ is tied up, by its nature, with the functions of national government rather than those of sub-national government such as regional (provincial in Korea) and lower tiers of local authorities for its

primary objective is to mediate economic imbalance between regions It is thought that regional policy is seen as a means of redistribution and central government intervention to cure what some see as market failure but can also be physical or natural disadvantage

The existence of local government has always been defended on the basis that it is a crucial aspect of the process of democratization and intensification of mass participation in the decision-making process No political system is considered complete and democratic if it does not have a system of local government

Local government serves a two-fold purpose The first purpose is the administrative purpose of supplying goods and services; the other purpose

is to represent and involve citizens in determining specific local public needs and how these local needs can be met Local representative government is a process that spans and connects representation and administration at local levels within local government structures In order

to understand the function and structure of local government, it is important

to define local government and understand the meaning of local government democracy and values

Local government is a product of devolution as a dimension of decentralization Olowu remarks:

There are two approaches to the definition of local government in the literature One approach, which is usually adopted in comparative studies,

is to regard all such national structures below the central government as local government A second approach is more circumspect in that local governments are identified by certain defining characteristics These characteristics usually focus on the following five attributes: legal personality, specified powers to perform a range of functions, substantial

budgetary and staffing autonomy subject to limited central control, effective citizen participation and localness

These are regarded as essential to distinguish it from all other forms of local institutions and also ensure its organizational effectiveness

These so-called essential features of local government are misleading Not all local governments provide an opportunity for effective citizen participation There are various issues to be considered A number of questions arise How is effective citizen participation determined? Is it determined electoral participation? With these issues in mind it appears that the same problems afflict identifying legal personality as a feature of local government, for legal personality is not a monopoly of local government Robson defines local government from a legal point of view as follows;

In general, local government may be said to involve the conception of territorial, non-sovereign community possessing the legal right and the necessary organization to regulate its own affairs

Gomme defines local government in the following manner:

Local government is part of the whole government of a nation or state which is administered by authorities subordinate to the state authority, but elected independently of control by the state authority, by qualified persons resident, or having property in certain localities, which localities have been formed by communities having common interests and common history Both Robson and Gomme seem to emphasize independence while local governments are actually not independent of central government control Local governments enjoy only relative autonomy, due to the division of responsibilities for services between national and local government It should be noted that the division of responsibilities is a political or policy issue There are several preconditions that determine

successful relationships between central and local government as by the World Bank these are:

 the need and urge for a strong system of local government in a democratic political circumstances ;

 that local government be allowed to play a vital role as a full partner in regional and national development ;

 a fair division of financial resources between central, regional and local bodies ;

 a fair division of human resources between central and local government ;

 formal and effective checks and balances between central and local government ;

 full and adequate consultation and a regular flow of accurate information among all levels ;

 the full participation of each citizen, irrespective of race and gender at all levels of administration and government – thus, the extension of democracy to all spheres of government ;

 political and social harmony

 defined legal relations among the all different levels of government and the ability for local pressure on central government to change legislation

 trust and honesty as basic principles of government and openness to innovation

Local governments should be considered as the cornerstones in the structure of a democratic politic system because of serving as a vehicle for intelligent and responsible citizenship on this particular level

Marshall‟s definition is considerably closer to the actual

characteristics of local government and distinguishes three definite attributes; “operation in a restricted geographical area within a nation or state; local election or selection; and the enjoyment of a measure of autonomy”

Meyer defines local government as follows:

Local democratic governing units within the unitary democratic system of country, which are subordinate members of the government vested with prescribed, controlled governmental powers and sources of income to render specific local services and to develop, control and regulate the geographic, social and economic environment of defined local area

One could argue that the weakness of Meyer‟s definition is that it includes democracy as an essential element of local government but local government can prevail without democratic from of government

In spite of this weakness in Meyer‟s definition, it seems to capture the essence of local government The essence is that local government is a government institution with limited legislative power and authority, which operates within clearly defined geographical and legal jurisdiction, within a nation or state The defining feature of local government is the authority to enact legislation within the defined jurisdiction and therefore the enjoyment

of a measure of autonomy But it attracts the local government‟s essence that is closely connected to diverse features recognized by Marshall The core is that local government if organ of government that exercise powers

in a restrictive manner and within specific geographic boundaries and legal jurisdiction the authority is defined The prime attribute of local government is the authority to endorse legislation in specific control and hence autonomy is enjoyed in a measured way These attributes of local

government are vital to consider when local government is restructured as

it makes sure that rationale of local government is not ignored

Meaningful local autonomy requires greater local autonomy and discretion which are minimal conditions for local democracy I mean local government to have credibility is that local government takes responsibility for a broad range of functions and a broad discretion of responding to local needs Especially, local government possesses an independent power of taxation After all, in order to develop local democracy, elected local government should be functionally and financially autonomous from the central government

1.2 Definition on structure of local government

The administrative structure of local government is the framework within which local public policy is determined and implemented The structure of an organization not only determines the relationship between the organs but also its character and strength

A distinction must be drawn between formal static structures and the more informal kinetic structures The static structures may be reduced to a set of laws and organizational chart In contrast, form of informal structures complex living bodies which are best described in terms of what the body does rather than how it is made up

The Council and its committees as legislative authorities and, the Chief Executive Officer and staff as administrative authorities will be regard as the organs of deliberation and representation

1.2.1 The Chief Executive Officer

In the past, Town Clerk was used to refer to the position of Chief Executive Officer This created confusion since this person was seen as the clerk of the council

The post of the chief executive officer is essentially and eminently the focal point of a local government structure He or she is the principal person coordinating the representative and staff aspects of the process of local government As the focal point in the local government process, the chief executive officer works closely with the council in the development of policy and directs staff in implementing policies (Humes & Martin, 1969: 125-126)

pre-The chief executive officer does not only take part in formulating ideas but also has an important role as the mobilizer of support for proposals, this position is expected by the council and the public to ensure their favorable consideration

The effective chief executive officer, either directly or indirectly, must not only build up enough support in council so that their proposals are adopted but they must also develop sufficient support within the people living in their jurisdiction so that they and those council members who support their proposals re-elected to office

A decision of a representative organ remains practically meaningless until it is transformed into action This indicates why the role of the chief executive officer as the head of the local staff is as important as their part in the formulation and exposition of decisions of the council and the executive committee

The local chief executive officer, as the apex of the administrative hierarchical pyramid, is charged with carrying out the overall polices made for the local unit by the organs of higher units of government or by local representative organs, therefore has the right and the duty to make such decisions as may be necessary to supplement and carry out the policies of higher units, or of local representative organs, or of both An essential

aspect of this job is the duty to lead in preparing and controlling the execution of the budget and also have a duty to supervise the employees of local units, to co-ordinate their activities and to maintain their efficiency

1.2.2 The Council

The council is the main representative organ of local government A council is an essential part of every unit of local representative government The role of the council as a representative body varies with the evolution and the mechanics of the processes of local government in each country The degree to which a local unit has a representative government depends largely in two factors The one is the extent to which the membership of a council represents and in answerable to the public and the other one is the extent to which the council has the authority and power to define local policy objectives and to have these objectives implemented

A unit of local representative government has one or more representative organs with some authority to govern Almost always one of these organs is the council, which offers the opportunity to discuss and give advice on local issues and beside it has the responsibility for making decisions authorizing or directing the local staff to perform tasks The council makes decisions by such acts as passing the budget, enacting ordinances by laws The council approves and in many cases amends proposals submitted to it, and generally may take the initiative in making proposals A council with decisive authority may take decisions regarding matters of overall policy objectives or of relatively more minor matters concerning the routine co-ordination of staff

The number of members of local councils varies, in general, with the population of the unit of local government However the size of councils is also closely interrelated to their role in local government

structures and clearly its size affects their representative character

Large councils must rely heavily on the executive organs, or on the committees of council or both, to be effective A large council makes it possible to have more citizens participation in local government work, therefore making local government more representative and close to the people Size is a relatively minor factor in the determination of the representative character of a council; more important are the methods of selection and the degree to which the members of council can responsibly and effectively represent the will of the electorate A council with a very small membership often allows little opportunity for the expression of minority opinions and may be at a disadvantage in knowing the thinking, desires and needs of the people

1.2.3 The Executive Committee

Due to limited size of the council it is difficult for the council as single structure to perform all the actions necessary within local government Therefore certain supportive structures have been created to assist the council in the execution of its tasks That‟s why the Executive Committee is needed

The Executive Committee is an executive organ of a unit of local government that has the central overall task of direction, initiating and coordinating all or most of the activities of the unit There are three essential, interdependent duties of an executive organ: initiation, integration and interpretation An executive organ is expected to take the initiative in developing and implementing those measures, which are in the best interests of the public and those that are necessary for the efficient administration of local services

A second essential duty of an executive organ is integration ; it is

expected to integrate and co-ordinate all the various local activities into one effective whole Lastly, duty is interpretation for the making and implementing of policy is one continuous process of exposition Policy objectives must be interpreted to those who help with implementation if the tasks are to be carried out meaningfully

The tasks of the executive committee could be divided according to two different points of view The one viewpoint is from the side of council The other viewpoint is from the side of the staff In the representative aspects of the process of local government, the executive committee is the steering committee of the council and is expected, along with the chief executive officer, to provide overall initiative in the policy-making process The executive committee also goes over the council agenda and makes recommendations on the items to be discussed and the final form of the proposals to be submitted to council An executive committee generally has broad latitude to exercise discretion as long as decisions are in accord with policy as determined by the council

The importance of the executive committee is demonstrated by the fact The role of the executive committee chairperson is dependent on the extent of his executive power

1.2.4 The Staff of Local Government

The staffs of local government are the employees engaged in the preparation and the implementation of local policies Local governments with more than a few employees divide their staff into departments, which constitute the major parts of the local staff structure different from the member of council and chief executive officer both are elected and fixed term of the office The primary consideration in the establishment of most departments is that they handle all matters affecting a particular purpose or

activity or two or more closely related purposes or activities In two instances, a city might have a security department to deal with all matters affecting public security and a fire department to handle all fire fighting Other departments may be organized to handle such activities as public works, water supply, education and public health Such departments are also known as line departments

Other departments are organized to deal with matters affecting one

or more aspects of the management of local government activities There may be a finance department, a legal department, a personnel department These are called auxiliary departments

The line departments exist primarily to serve the public and a large proportion of their employees work outside of their headquarters, the non-line departments exist primarily to assist the other departments in carrying out their activities The non-line departments affect matters pertaining to all the departments

1.3 Limited Power of The Local Government

Local governments have still limited power based on The Local Autonomy Act1 which has a clause “Despite the functions specified in this law, the central government may exercise its own power and control over any function, if other laws define them as the functions of the central government”, which make the power and autonomy of local government seriously weaken According to Article 15 of the Local Autonomy Act, local ordinances should be consistent with not only legislative laws but also

1 The purpose of this Act is to promote democracy and efficiency of local autonomous administration and

to ensure balanced development of local areas and democratic development of the Republic of Korea, by prescribing matters concerning types, organization and operation of local governments, and basic

relations between the state and local governments.( https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawView.do?hseq= 44511&lang=ENG)

executive regulations The central government utilizes a variety of means for controlling local government Especially, administrative guidance in the most controversial tool the central government uses to control local government‟s decisions which can be why local governments insist that the central government does not want to decentralize their functions because they are afraid of losing their powers and control over localities The central government‟s involvement in the businesses of local government often is not based on laws of the National Assemble Thus, local government is not protected from politically motivated control of the central government

A government study shows that in 2002 one-fourth(25%)2 of state functions was local Another study shows that in 2012 a little more than one-fourth(27%)3 of state functions were local The functional base of local government has changed little over a decade of local autonomy Notable is that although the constitution gives local government a general grant of authority, the law, as mentioned above, excludes police function from local government‟s responsibility Local government also has no direct control over the provision of education service within its geographic boundary

Korean local government performs not only proper functions and but also assigned functions, for which the central government provides finances The assigned functions can be divided into two types The first type is entity-assigned functions, which are delegated to local government

2 https://edirc.repec.org/southkorea.html

3 https://edirc.repec.org/southkorea.html

as a whole These functions are not distinguishable from other functions Their existence evidently indicates the limited functional base of local government the second type is agency-assigned functions, which are delegated to local chief executive In implementing these functions, local chief executive is regarded as a local administrative agency of the central government Hence, elected local chief executive is subject to tight control

of the central government Their existence clearly illustrates limited local government power and autonomy

Another notable feature is the presence of special local administrative agencies not subject to local electoral control but central administrative control These special agencies, which operate independently of local government, stress functional lines of authority rather than areal lines of authority The existence of these agencies, whose work parallels that of local government, greatly narrows the responsibilities

of local government Hence, the proliferation of special local administrative agencies fragments the structure of local governance and undermines meaningful local autonomy

1.4 Fiscal Structure of The Local Governments

The finances of general local government offices are made up of general accounts, special accounts, and funds Their revenues consist of local governments bonds, independent sources such as local taxes and non-tax revenues- and dependent sources- such as local subsidies and subsidies from the national treasury

Korea‟s Local Finance Equalization Scheme allows the central government of higher tier local governments to transfer financial resources

to local governments with weak revenue base It has been established to divide the roles and responsibilities among the central and local

governments in an efficient manner, to help supply public goods in adequate quantities by addressing the externalities among regions, and to redress disparities in fiscal strength among local governments

The current Local Finance Equalization Scheme consists of the transfer of resources between the central and local governments and transfers between metropolitan units and basic units of local governments The fiscal adjustment system between the central and local governments deals with resource allocation (local subsidy and local education subsidy) and subsidy from the national treasury The system between local government of metropolitan units and basic units deals with subsidies for cities and provinces, adjusted resource allocation, and financial coverage

The central government provides local governments with subsidies composed of 19.24% of internal taxes and comprehensive real estate taxes Currently local subsidies consist of general subsidies, special subsidies, decentralization subsidies, and real estate subsidies

General subsidies guarantee fiscal resource necessary for the maintenance of administrative activities of local governments to a certain degree These take up 17.751%[34, pp.65-78] of internal taxes, and are provided to local governments whose standard fiscal income falls below the standard fiscal demand Special subsidies, which amount for 0.549%[34, pp.65-78] of the internal taxes, are granted for unpredicted fiscal demands such as restoration of a disaster, establishment of public welfare facilities, and special projects promoted by the state

The decentralization subsidy, amounting to 0.95% [34, pp.65-78] of internal taxes, was established to steadily hand over social welfare projects

to local governments From 2015, the decentralization subsidy has been included as a part of the general subsidy The real-estate subsidy receives

its resources from the total amount of Comprehensive Real Estate Tax, and

is distributed in accordance with the fiscal condition of each local government

To summarize of this chapter, it tends to be considered local government as part of the executive branch and thus are controlled by the central government Despite of the change a little from old time, the autonomous power of local governments remains quite limited Virtually all major policies, including those specifying local government functions, taxation, resident welfare and services, personnel management, are determined by the central government

CHAPTER 2

STRUCTURE AND OPERATION MECHANISM OF LOCAL

GOBERNMENT IN COMPARISON 2.1 Local Autonomy Law

The purpose of this Act in Korea is to promote democracy and efficiency of local autonomous administration and to ensure balanced development of local areas and democratic development of the Republic of Korea, by prescribing matters concerning types, organization and operation

of local governments, and basic relations between the State and local governments This Act was enacted in the year 1948 at firstly, however stopped at 1961 caused by Military government with the President Park Chung-hee and enacted once again from after 1988

Local Autonomy Law consists of Preamble with 10 of chapters and

175 of Articles and supplementary now Chapter 1 shows general provisions, types of local governments, juristic personality and jurisdiction

of local governments, basic principles of management of affairs, scope of activities of local governments, standards for allocating affairs according to types of local governments, restriction on handling state affairs, jurisdictions of local governments, seat of office, standards for establishments of Si/Eup which are Chapter 2 includes juristic person‟s qualifications and responsibilities such as rights of residents, resident‟ voting, request for enactment, revision or abolition of municipal ordinance, residents‟ request for inspection Chapter 3 concerns municipal ordinances and municipal rules like limit to enactment of municipal ordinances and municipal rules, enforcement of municipal ordinance and municipal rules

in case of establishment of local governments or alteration of levels thereof

Chapter 4 handles enacting of sort of laws on local elections namely

about local council members and Chapter 5 illustrates regulations on sort of things related to local council such as terms of office of locan council members, expenses for parliamentary of members, obligations of council members, notification of arrest of council members In addition, Chapter 6 regulates things pertaining to executive organs like demand for submission

of documents, authority to inspect and investigate administrative affairs, subordinate administrative organization and Chapter 7 explains financial affairs such as basic principles of financial management, budget and settlement of accounts, revenues and expenditures, properties and public facilities, supplementary provisions

Chapter 8 concerns relationship among local governments, namely like cooperation among local governments and dispute mediation, administrative consultative council, local government association, consultative council of heads of local governments Chapter 9 is about guidance and supervision of state such as cooperation among local governments, dispute mediation among local governments, establishment, composition of local government central dispute mediation committee

The purpose of this Act in Vietnam is similar with Korea‟s one The

2013 Constitution uses the term “local administration” as the title of a chapter with seven articles On June 19, 2015, the 13th National Assembly adopted the Law on Organization of Local Administration With effect from January 1, 2016, the Law concretizes the provisions of the 2013 Constitution and the Party‟s policies and guidelines on building efficient local administrations in the cause of national renewal

Over the levels of administrative units, under Article 110 of the

2013 Constitution, Vietnam‟s administrative units are divided as follows:

“The country shall be divided into provinces and centrally run cities; a

province shall be divided into rural districts, towns and provincial cities; a centrally run city shall be divided into urban districts, rural districts, towns and equivalent administrative units; a rural district shall be divided into communes and town ships; a town or provincial city shall be divided into wards and communes; and an urban district shall be divided into wars Special administrative-economic units may be established by the National Assembly The establishment, dissolution, consolidation, separation or adjustment of the boundaries of an administrative unit shall be consulted with local people and much comply with the process and procedures prescribed by a law” 4

In addition, the organization of local administration can be explained as follows:

Article 111of the 2013 Constitution stipulates: “Local administrations shall be organized in administrative units of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Each local administration level shall be composed of the People‟s Council and People‟s Committee to be organized in conformity with characteristics of rural areas, urban areas, islands or special administrative-economic units prescribed by a law.” [4, p.32]

Besides, Article 113 of the 2013 Constitution states on position, structure and operations of People‟s Councils as below [4, p.33]:

“1 The People‟s Council is the local state power body, representing the will, aspirations and right to mastery of the local people, shall be elected

by the local people, and is responsible to the local people and state agencies at higher levels

2 The People‟s Council shall decide on local issues as prescribed by a law;

4 http://vietnamlawmagazine.vn/current-local-administration-system-in-vietnam-6058.html

and supervise the observance of the Constitution and laws in its locality and the implementation of its own resolutions.”

Furthermore, people‟s committees‟ position, structure and operations are regulated by Article 114 of the 2013 Constitution as:

“1 The people‟s Committee at a local administration level, which shall be elected by the People‟s Council of the same level, is the executive body of the respective People‟s Council and is the local state administrative body, and is responsible to the People‟s Council and state administrative agencies

2.2 Local government structure

2.2.1 Local Government of Korea

The form of local government in Korea reflects democratic institutional principles such as separation of powers and checks and balances5 Executive power belongs to the mayor while legislative power to the local council According to the Article 118 of the Constitution, “the local government shall have a council” and; the organization and powers of local councils, and the election of their members; and other matters pertaining to the organization and operation of local governments shall be determined by laws.”6

Every local government in Korea maintains the

same form of government and there is no exception

The mayor and the councilors are popularly elected through ballots Thus, the structure of local government primarily embodies the principle of political accountability In contrast, the rest of local officials are not elected but appointed based on merit The local bureaucracy, which has long developed professional norms of administration, is the core of local government In fact, they have been supporting for executive chief to handle the sensitive matters occurred from community excluding partisan matters Hence it can be said that the structure of local government embodies the principle of administrative efficient as well

While the Korean constitution grants local governments the power

to take actions that are not explicitly or assigned elsewhere At the same time, the constitution also allows the central government to use regulations

to control the lower levels The central government uses this proviso to tightly control local spending and taxation As a result, local administration

in Korea in practice follows the ultra principle, which permits lower level governments only engage in activities the central government has specifically assigned and authorized

In the same line, local election is held every four year However the electoral system has been changed in each round of elections, confusing voters Initially, local parties only competed at the regional level and from then has a lot of changes in there Actually, the local election has considered as a middle term test against for recent government and president or ruling party Thus local issues generally play only a minor role

in local election campaigns and politicians at the national level continue to

regard local politics as an extension of national politics

Enhancing local democracy requires a vibrant local society, which is supposed to encompass a diversity of local voluntary groups Yet, economic interests at the local level are poorly organized Local chambers of commerce fail to play a key role in representing local economic interests Since there are industry-by-industry national associations, individual local businesses hardly look to local chambers of commerce for representing their interests As a result, local chambers of commerce are less likely to become a major force in local political processes

The low organization of local economic interests attests the limited power and scope of local government Local government has little freedom

to pursue development policies by using tax abatement, land grants, subsidies, and so on

After last of 20th century, the new paradigm appeared called

“Decentralization of power” Central government‟s power and control have been weakened to local government caused by globalism and information-oriented society while local government has been getting more and more empowerment

Local self-government refers to a governing system that eligible residents who live in limited geographical area select their representatives and let them run their local government The local government system was implemented in Korea in the year 1952 However, it lasted only for nine years and then degenerated into malfunction and chaos because of Park Chung Hee‟s military coup, local elections were abolished until middle of 1990‟s

After a long debate about the local autonomy system and several amendments to the Local Autonomy Act, local council elections were held

in 1999 and comprehensive local elections including vote for head of local government followed four years later Since then local autonomy has continued to the present with every four years for voting

The total number comprises 17 regional governments and 227 municipal governments The regional governments include Seoul Metropolitan City, Sejong City, 6 metropolitan cities (Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan), and 8 provinces (Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Chungnam, Chunbuk, Gyeongnam, Gyeongbuk) and Jeju Province which

is island Seoul is very well known as capital of Korea Sejong City was designated as a special autonomous city in which 9 central government ministries, which is similar to Washington, D.C in USA

In addition, at the lower-level local governments, there are 80 counties, 73cities, and 69 autonomous districts and cities belong to metropolitan cities and provinces respectively And all the local governments are classified as autonomous bodies with elected councils and heads of local government The election for representative is only held hold above lower level as shown in Figure 1-1

[Figure 1-1] System of Korea Local Government 7

7 http://www.mlit.go.jp/kokudokeikaku/international/spw/general/korea/index_e.html

Local governments have scope of power and authority in functions as below:

■ Functions related to the territorial jurisdiction, organizational and managerial aspects of local governments

■ Functions to promote the general welfare of local residents

■ Functions related to the promotion of industries including agriculture, forestry, trade, industry, etc

■ Functions related to regional development and the construction and management of environmental facilities

■ Function to promote education, athletic activities, culture and art

■ Functions related to civil defense and fire fighting

2.2.2 Local Government of Vietnam

Together with the economic reform in the cause of comprehensive national “doi moi”(renewal) initiated by the Communist Party of Vietnam

in 1986, the reform of the political system embracing the local administrations has been carried out carried out step by step

Prior to the promulgation of the new Constitution of 1992(Doi Moi)

a new law on organization of the People‟s Councils and the People‟s Committees was promulgated in 1989 in replacement of the old one promulgated in 1983, aiming to initially reform the local administration system

Under the old law, the People‟s Councils depended too much on the People‟s Committees as they had been organized without their own standing bodies while the people‟s Committees had been structured with the standing bodies decided and directed almost all important matters failing under the jurisdiction of the People‟s Committees This ran counter

to the principle that the People‟s Committees work under the collective regime Moreover, the People‟s Committees under the old law had been organized cumbersomely with too large staff and too many functional bodies

Yet, under the 1989 Law, the People‟s Councils of the provincial and district levels had, for the first time, their own standing bodies while the People‟s Committees no longer had their standing bodies as well as their secretaries, but each was composed only of the president, one or several vice-presidents and other members In the People‟s Committees, specific tasks were assigned among members and the number of functional bodies dropped, thus helping to increase dynamism and alertness of the presidents, vice presidents and other members of the People‟s Committee members, while cutting red tape

The promulgation of a new Constitution in 1992 has created the basic legal basis for the reform of the organization and operation of the State apparatus in Vietnam, including the local administrations In order to concretize the new Constitution, a new law on the organization of the People‟s Councils and the People‟s Committees was promulgated in 1994,

under which the People‟s Councils remain to be the State power organs in localities, which represent the local people‟s will, aspirations and mastery, are elected by the local people and answerable to the local people and the superior State bodies for all affairs in their respective localities; and the People‟s Committees are elected by the People‟s Councils of the same levels, acting as the executive bodies of the People‟s Councils and the State administrative agencies in localities

Basically, Vietnam is a socialist public, and presently the administrative structure is marked by a clear hierarchy and a division into four levels : the central government in Hanoi, the provincial governments

of the 63 provinces8, and below that level the district and commune governments(about 11,112)9

Each level has a People‟s Council and a People‟s Committee(the executive) It appears that the members of the People‟s Council may be the same persons who are members of the People‟s Committee sometimes The council members are elected by the people of the area in question, but the next higher level(called the Province for the District) has to approve the candidates to be elected for the council The elected People‟s Council members select the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the People‟s committees, and the Communist Party of Vietnam has considerable powers over the executive branches at all levels [14, P.24]

8 https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/vietnam-administrative-map.htm

9 https://wn.com/commune-level_subdivisions_(vietnam)

At all levels, the People‟s Committee has budgetary and administrative responsibilities They are charged with maintaining law, order and security within their jurisdictions As far as the laws, the authority of decision making is the elected People‟s Council with its elected representatives However, we remind that People‟s councils as collectives are not always very powerful or core to local level decision making

In terms of administrative autonomy for local officials and departments, they have to report to both to the local people‟s Committee and Council, as well as to the line department or line ministries as regards the sector in which they work at higher levels Normally, each Council is responsible to the next higher level in the three level structure

of sub national government, and the province is upwardly accountable to the central government in what is called a system of „double subordination‟ This again has generally limited the freedom of action at all sub-national levels

In the administration system, the grassroots administrations in communes, wards and district townships play an extremely important position, where the ties between the state and people are directly settled and

where the State‟s undertakings, policies and laws are materialized Therefore, the role and position of the grassroots administrations have been fully understood and importance has been attached to this level of local administrations which have been constantly strengthened in many aspects, including their material bases, the contingents of their employees who have been better trained and fostered professionally To promote the people‟s mastery in discussing and deciding on local matters and supervising the activities of administrations and public servants in localities and to substantially reform the organization of the grassroots administrations, the government issued in 1998 the Regulation on promotion of democracy in communes

All administrative levels go through an annual planning cycle, where for instant the district makes a plan which is submitted to the province The plan is drafted by officials of the People‟s Committee, and approved by the People‟s Council of the administrative level concerned By November/December a budget request is submitted to the provincial authorities Amounts may differ per year, as there are changes in income and also things may be different for each communes

Now Vietnam‟s move from a highly centralized hierarchical state, designed for central planning, towards a more nimble set of arrangements suited for markets, has included the decentralization of responsibilities and power to lower levels of government

2.2.3 Generalization on local government structure in Vietnam and Korea

The 2013 Constitution in Vietnam clearly states that local administration has two types of tasks and powers, namely organizing and ensuring implementation of the constitution and laws in their localities and deciding on local issues This expresses the underpinning view that policies

and laws are to be issued by competent central bodies, while local administrations at all levels are responsible for organizing the implementation under the supervision by superior state bodies In addition, tasks and powers of local administration are determined based on the division of competence between state bodies at central and local levels and among different levels of local administration This determination is aimed

at guaranteeing the initiative and self-responsibility of each level of

administration as well as well as the effective control of power

Article 111 of the 2013 Constitution stipulates 10 : “Local administrations shall be organized in administrative units of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Each local administration level shall be composed of the People‟s Council and People‟s Committee to be organized in conformity with characteristics of rural areas, urban areas, islands or special administrative-economic units prescribed by a raw

The Law maintains that the People‟s Council and People‟s Committee, must be established in every administrative unit Article 4.1 of the Law states: “The local administration level consisting of the People‟s Council and People‟s Committee shall be organized in every administrative unit of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam prescribed in Article 2 of this Law

At present, Vietnam‟s local administrations consisting of People‟s Council‟s and People‟s Committees are established in 63 provincial-level administrative units11 ( 58provinces and 5centrally run cities), 713 district-level ones ( 546 rural districts, 49 urban districts, 51 towns and 67

10

Article 111 of the Constitution stipulates the enforcement of the Constitutional Court and the

qualifications and appoints of the Constitutional Court Judges

https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/kr/kr061en.pdf

11 https://wn.com/commune-level_subdivisions_(vietnam)