한국지방행정연구원

The Korea Local Administration Review

Year
2005-09
Author
Cho, Seok-Joo

Assessing the Transformation of Eup, Myeon, Dong Functions and Related Policy Recommendations

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For a long time EupㆍMyeonㆍDong have carried out comprehensive administrative functions as the center of everyday administration close to citizens, under a centralized system. However, because of the development of industrialization and the information-oriented society, a need to reduce their functions has risen.
The government carried out the transfer of functions based on urban areas from 1999 to 2000 as the first stage. At the next stage, transfer in rural areas were promoted from 2000 to 2001. The effects of this transformation of functions broadly takes two sides. One is the strength of administrative functions, namely, increased administrative efficiency driven by quick public services and prevention of overlapping services by transferring some affairs and personnel of EupㆍMyeonㆍDong into higher level offices (SiㆍGunㆍGu). The other side is the enhanced role as the center of community formation, which means that surplus spaces of EupㆍMyeonㆍDong offices caused by transferring functions could be used as citizen autonomy centers and cultural and welfare facilities for citizen. This study focuses on the former side and examines performances on transformation of administrative functions. Then it identifies problems and suggests respective solutions.