Posted a Banner for the People Power Party's District Committee Chair
Gyeonggi Province is pushing for the establishment of the Gyeonggi Northern Special Autonomous Province, aiming for its launch in July 2026. Amid this, ahead of the general elections, there is a controversial claim that Gimpo City in Gyeonggi Province should be incorporated into Seoul. It is also pointed out that this is a sensitive issue closely related to the 'Seoul expansion theory,' which involves Seoul absorbing local governments in Gyeonggi Province to expand its territory.
According to Yonhap News Agency and Gimpo political circles on the 12th, Hong Cheol-ho, the People Power Party's Gimpo-eul district committee chairman, has been putting up banners around the city since last month saying, “Gyeonggi Bukdo? Bad, Seoul Special City is good.”
'Gyeonggi Bukdo? Bad, Seoul Special City Good' Banner Photo by Cheolho, Kimpo-eul Party Committee Chairman of the People Power Party Provided
Hong, a former lawmaker whose hometown is Gimpo, was consecutively elected in the 20th and 21st general elections (Saenuri Party, Gimpo-eul).
Hong argued, “Geographically, Gimpo does not border either Gyeonggi Bukdo or Namdo,” and “Historically, Gangseo-gu and Yangcheon-gu in Seoul were once part of the Gimpo area before being incorporated into Seoul in 1961, and since Gimpo and Seoul share the same living area, there is legitimacy in incorporating Gimpo into Seoul.”
He added, “If Gimpo is incorporated, residents can receive high-quality education from Seoul, and Seoul can benefit from developing the West Sea,” and “We are continuously discussing with Seoul and plan to persuade Gyeonggi Province based on the residents’ will to be incorporated into Seoul.”
On his Facebook, Hong also claimed, “The justification for Seoul incorporation is that Gimpo is already detached from Gyeonggi Province,” stating, “In other words, it is segmented, bordering Seoul and Incheon but not adjoining Gyeonggi Province at all.”
Yonhap News reported that Kim Byung-soo, the mayor of Gimpo and a former aide to Hong as well as a member of the same party, also strengthened the Seoul incorporation claim by announcing strong plans such as proposing related laws and holding a residents’ referendum.
In a phone interview with Yonhap News, Mayor Kim said, “Gimpo has many exchanges with Seoul and shares a living area, so administratively and in terms of convenience, it should belong to Seoul,” and “Seoul has also given a positive response, noting that if Gimpo is incorporated, it can become a port city and the Han River Renaissance project can be planned on a larger scale.”
It is known that Gimpo City has little connection with northern Gyeonggi, and residents have shown lukewarm reactions to Governor Kim’s 'division theory,' instead welcoming incorporation into Seoul. This includes expectations that the current traffic issues, which surfaced as the 'Gold Line incident' amid many residents commuting to Seoul, can be resolved.
For Gimpo City to be incorporated into Seoul, procedures such as residents’ referendums in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Gimpo City, as well as the enactment of related laws, must be followed. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, cases where the jurisdiction of metropolitan local governments was changed as requested by Gimpo City include the incorporation of Gunwi County into Daegu City in July and the incorporation of Ongjin County and Ganghwa County into Incheon City in 1995.
Earlier, on the 26th of last month, Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon met with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to request the holding of a residents’ referendum, a legal procedure for enacting a special law to establish Gyeonggi Bukdo.
In this process, Gyeonggi Province allowed Gimpo City to choose whether to be incorporated into Seoul without including Gimpo in the scope of Gyeonggi Bukdo.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
