Lawmaker of the National Assembly The following are excerpts from an interview with Kang Chang-il, lawmaker of the National Assembly. ...Ed. Q: What is the goal of launching Jeju Special Self- Governing Province A: The goal of launching Jeju Special Self-Governing Province can be summed up as the development of a prototypical economic city by building a new growth model while fostering Jeju as Korea's classic region of selfgovernance and decentralization. Since February 2003, when President Roh Moo-hyun expressed his will to promote Jeju as a model city of selfgovernance, there have been diverse efforts made from the National Assembly, the Jeju Province, and the central government. Through the enactment in February 2002 of the Special Law on Jeju Special Self- Governance, the major contents of which consist of granting highly autonomous self-rights, except those related to diplomacy and national defense, and special stipulations for promoting core industries, Jeju has now built up yet another momentum to make a leap forward. Q: What measures are there to develop Jeju into a Free International City A: Special Self-Governing Province is a system made up to transform Jeju into a truly autonomous city with transferred powers from the central government. Also, it seeks to promote Jeju into an economic model city nothing but a free international city armed with global competitiveness. In order to foster Jeju as a free international city, the special law for the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is furnished with provisions facilitating Jeju to actively push forward the development of seven core industries. By designating the whole region of Jeju Province as a city of international conference, it has opened the door to promote the city as the Northeast Asia's hub of international conference. Also, the law was enacted to develop Jeju as the region's center of tourism and leisure by intensively carrying out system reforms to provide tourists convenient access to Jeju. Moreover, it seeks to build a new model of development in promoting the 'Clean Primary Industry' through strengthened linkage of IT and BT with the production and distribution of clean and safe farm and livestock products. Aside from these, the efficient management of Jeju's oceanic resources and its natural beauty, such as 'Oreum,' the tiny volcanic zones, stands as one of many important tasks to be dealt with. In order to stimulate foreign investment, the special law has embraced a special provision for Jeju to attract prominent universities from abroad. If Jeju succeeds in attracting leading universities from abroad, it is expected that skilled foreign workforce will come to Jeju along with the rise in subsequent economic benefits. Above all, the key to the success of a free international city depends largely on to which extent it can attract foreign investment. In short, it is important, more than anything else, to firmly set up a basic environment for attracting foreign investment. To this end, it is necessary to make diversified efforts, such as foreign language services, expanded retransmission of foreign broadcasts, housing and nursery facilities for the exclusive use by foreign residents. The Jeju Special-Governing Province is nothing more than a small step in making Jeju into a truly free international city. As for developing Jeju into a tourism hub in Northest Asia, a variety of support measures are needed at the National Assembly level, including the alleviation of regulations. To achieve this, I plan to study various measures, including the amendment of related laws. Q: What is your blueprint for the further development of local autonomy and decentralization A: Self-governance and decentralization are the irrevocable trend of today. From the standpoint of democracy at its heart, and of the grassroots democracy, in particular, participating in the discussions of local issues and making decisions by residents themselves has tremendous positive effects. Of course, there is also the dimension that the ability of residents to lead autonomy, too, should be further enhanced. Even so, it has become a daily experience to witness that resident's awareness of self-righteousness and self-governance in deliberating local issues is being greatly enhanced. The reason for my taking an initiative in filing a motion to recall public officials was nothing but to prepare an institutional framework for such self-governance by local residents. Until now, there hasn't been any means to rein in mayors and governors, as well as city councilors and provincial legislators, who have committed wrongdoings. But, with the adoption of a recall system, a legal device has been prepared for local residents to be on a direct lookout for any misdeeds of elected officials, making political recalls as in the case of recalling automobiles.