Jo Kyung-tae, Chairman of the New City Special Committee, Meets with Representative Kim Ki-hyun
The People Power Party's New City Project Special Committee will announce a special law centered on incorporating Gimpo City in Gyeonggi Province into Seoul as early as the afternoon of the 16th.
Jo Kyung-tae, the chairman of the special committee, met with Representative Kim Ki-hyun at the National Assembly that morning and told reporters, "We have decided to propose a special law focusing solely on Gimpo for now," adding, "We plan to propose it as early as this afternoon."
The tentative title of the bill will be the "Special Act on the Change of Jurisdictional Areas between Gyeonggi Province and Seoul Special City." Although other cities in Gyeonggi Province such as Guri and Hanam had also been mentioned as candidates for incorporation, the law will initially be proposed only for Gimpo.
On the 16th, Cho Kyung-tae, Chairman of the New City Project Special Committee of the People Power Party, answered reporters' questions after leaving the party leader's office following discussions with Representative Kim Ki-hyun at the National Assembly. Chairman Cho stated, "We plan to propose the Seoul-Gimpo Integration Special Act this afternoon." Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
The reason the special committee is prioritizing the incorporation of Gimpo into Seoul is that, unlike other areas, Gimpo is included in the rural special case zone, and a consensus between Seoul and the region has been quickly formed. Chairman Jo explained, "We are also preparing for Guri. However, the situations faced by Gimpo and Guri differ," adding, "In Gimpo's case, the rural special case applies, making it difficult to proceed by grouping it with other cities. It is reasonable to handle each case individually." He continued, "Yesterday, I met with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, and we reached a mutual understanding regarding the bill to integrate Gimpo. We will resolve issues one by one starting with regions where consensus has been formed."
Regarding the application of the rural special case system, Chairman Jo indicated a grace period policy, saying, "It is very important to ensure that no disadvantages occur from incorporation for the time being." About the integration method, he elaborated, "We plan to incorporate and integrate gradually with a grace period," adding that a buffer period will be provided to reduce administrative and financial disadvantages for Gimpo City.
Responding to opposition party criticism that the grace period for abolishing the rural special case system is a "campaign tactic," Chairman Jo said, "It is not worth responding," and pointed out, "They may be lamenting at home every day because they failed to seize the issue, but even so, would Representative Lee Jae-myung deny his own ultra-strong mega-city pledge made during his candidacy?"
The special committee is expected to focus on administrative integration in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam going forward. When asked about progress in administrative integration of the Bu-Ul-Gyeong region, Chairman Jo said, "I spoke with Gyeongnam Governor Park Wan-su today, and he showed a very strong will for integration," adding, "It can be said that the integration of Busan and Gyeongnam has become likely. We are preparing a special law related to administrative integration and will propose it soon." Chairman Jo plans to visit the Gyeongnam Provincial Office next week.
He also reaffirmed the intention to promote mega-cities nationwide. Chairman Jo said, "'New City' involves reorganizing cities nationwide and is not limited to specific regions," adding, "For balanced national development, mega-cities centered on the three axes of Seoul, Busan, and Gwangju should be established, and if active discussions occur in Daegu and Daejeon, it would be desirable for those cities to also become mega-cities."
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