The 100 tasks include President Lee Myung-bak's campaign promises and key policy goals he set after his inauguration. The revamp of local government is a new addition, and his controversial main pledge to build a cross-country canal has been left out. In mid-October, Cheong Wa Dae is expected to unveil no fewer than 900 detailed action plans to implement the tasks.

Cheong Wa Dae pledged to seek parliamentary approval for a bill on autonomous regional police in 2009 and introduce it into some municipalities on a trial basis in 2010. Under the plan, mayors and county and metropolitan district chiefs will appoint their local police chiefs, who will take charge of traffic control and crime prevention in their regions. But the central government will still appoint commissioners of metropolitan and provincial police agencies, and the National Police Agency will still take charge of crime investigation and national security.

The government will restructure local administrative districts to ensure areas where people live coincide with the administrative districts, and readjust population sizes in different administrative districts to roughly similar levels.

The presidential office also pledged to ease restrictions on the broadcasting and communication industries. Other economic tasks include fostering of an advanced financial industry through the reform of regulations, tax cuts, creation of new industries to deal with climate change, and development of new renewable and clean energies.

Bahk Jae-wan, senior presidential secretary for state affairs planning, said if the policy tasks are implemented successfully, “the country can achieve an annual economic growth of 7 percent and create 3 million new jobs."

(englishnews@chosun.com )