Reasons for Proposal
Under the「Special Act on the Relocation of Military Air Bases and Support Therefor」enforced on Oct. 6, 2013 (hereinafter, the “Special Act”), relocation projects are currently being implemented regarding military air bases in Gwangju, Daegu, and Suwon.
However, in a series of procedures for the selection of relocation sites under the current Special Act, there is no legal framework that can reflect the will of the local residents who have an interest other than the plebiscite, and this plebiscite also assumes a procedural character in which only the pros and cons are confirmed by vote in the final process of selecting relocation sites, which does not adequately reflect the will of the local residents in the relocation site selection process.
Consequently, there were serious conflicts between stakeholders over the pros and cons for the selection of relocation sites immediately after the submission of a recommendation on relocation under the current Special Act, and during this process, false claims about the military air base relocation project were rampant, which acts as a mechanism to further amplify the conflict.
This serious conflict affects the Defense Minister’s exercise of the right to select relocation sites, adversely affecting the smooth and prompt implementation of the military air base relocation project. Moreover, under the current Special Act, there is no fixed time for the Defense Minister’s exercise of the right to select relocation sites, causing indefinite delays in the military air base relocation project.
However, as confirmed by the recent decision of the Constitutional Court (2017 Hun-Ra 2 , December 28, 2017), the military air base relocation project has the characteristic of a national agenda aimed at strengthening national defense. Accordingly, the proposed Act aims to conduct a public opinion survey based on resident participation to ensure that the will of the residents of the candidate relocation sites is faithfully reflected in the selection of the relocation site and to fix the time for the Defense Minister to exercise the right to select the relocation site, aimed at smoothly implementing the military air base relocation project and thereby seeking to strengthen national defense.
Details
A. Add “contribution to strengthening national defense” to the objective of the Special Act and clarify the character of the national agenda of the military air base relocation project (Act 1)
B. Newly insert the definition of terms including the shaping of public opinion, public opinion survey based on resident participation, blockchain-based opinion poll, etc. (Article 2)
C. Conduct the public opinion survey based on resident participation through a committee for shaping public opinion in the selection process of candidate relocation sites, and prescribe the "blockchain-based opinion poll" as a special case of public opinion survey (Chapter 1(2), Article 6)
D. In the case where the head of a local government of the previous site submits a relocation recommendation, immediately disclose the recommendation to ensure access to the relevant information by the residents of the relevant local government (Article 4)
E. The Defense Minister who received the recommendation on relocation shall finish his review of the preliminary candidate relocation sites, including the suitability of the location for military operations and military air bases, within 360 days, and disclose the review results except for the information in each subparagraph of Article 9, paragraph 1 of the Official Information Disclosure Act, thereby resolving time-consuming conflicts over the suitability of the location and expediting project implementation (Article 4-2, paragraphs 1 and 2 ).
F. When relocating a military air base, have the Defense Minister select the preliminary candidate relocation site within 180 days after finishing the review of the preliminary candidate relocation sites to expedite the site selection process and confirm the will of the local residents regarding the selection of the candidate relocation site (Article 4-2, paragraph 3).
G. Establish a military air base relocation site selection committee in the Ministry of Defense within 30 days from the date when the preliminary candidate relocation site is selected, thereby expediting the process (Article 5)
H. To conduct a public opinion survey based on resident participation after the selection of the preliminary candidate relocation site, have the local government of the previous site crystallize the implementation methods of military air base relocation project in the previous relocation recommendation, the methods of supporting the surrounding area of relocation, and the methods of establishing the plan for required finances, to meet the needs of the preliminary candidate relocation site and submit them to the public opinion survey committee and the military air bases relocation site selection committee (Article 6, paragraph 2).
I. A public opinion survey based on resident participation is conducted within 90 days of the establishment of the public opinion survey committee (Article 6, paragraph 3), and the Defense Minister shall select the candidate relocation site within 30 days from the date of the final result (Article 6-2).
J. The Defense Minister shall establish and announce the plan for selecting the relocation site within 180 days from the date of the selection of the relocation site, and ask the head of the local government of the candidate relocation site to hold a plebiscite within 30 days from the date of the announcement of a selection plan (Article 7, paragraph 1, Article 8, paragraph 1).
K. If the final result of the public opinion survey based on resident participation in Article 6, paragraph 3 shows that a majority is in favor of the selection of the relocation site, the head of the local government of the relocation site asked to hold a plebiscite shall initiate a plebiscite within 60 days from being asked to hold a plebiscite, ensuring that the will of the residents regarding the relocation site is directly reflected in the casting of the vote (Article 8, paragraph 2).
L. Have the head of local government of the relocation site faithfully reflect the results of the plebiscite to apply for the transfer of a military air base. If there is no application for transfer despite the fact that the results of the plebiscite show that a majority are in favor of transfer, the application is deemed to be made the following day (Article 8, paragraph 3)
