People Power Party New City Special Committee to Propose Guri Seoul Incorporation Bill on the 19th

The Special Committee Plans to Propose Amendments to the Local Autonomy Act Including Provisions on Special Metropolitan Cities

The People Power Party's New City Project Special Committee will propose a special law on the 19th that centers on incorporating Guri City, Gyeonggi Province, into Seoul.

Jo Kyung-tae, chairman of the People Power Party's New City Special Committee, stated to reporters after a committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 18th, "We have decided to enact a special law concerning the change of jurisdictional boundaries between Gyeonggi Province and Seoul Special City, which includes incorporating Guri City into Seoul."

On the 11th, at the 5th meeting of the New City Project Special Committee of the People Power Party held at the National Assembly, Chairman Jo Kyung-tae is speaking. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Previously, the committee submitted a special law bill on the 16th of last month to incorporate Gimpo into Seoul. This bill to include Guri in Seoul is the second of its kind. Regarding the incorporation of Hanam City into Seoul, Chairman Jo explained, "We will proceed after further consultations with local governments in Hanam."

Additionally, the committee plans to propose amendments to the Local Autonomy Act that include provisions for establishing a special metropolitan city, which is a concept of a mega city, as well as a special law supporting the integration and jurisdictional boundary changes of metropolitan cities and provinces.

Originally, the People Power Party decided to use terms such as special metropolitan city instead of the initially discussed ultra-metropolitan special city in relation to mega cities. Chairman Jo explained, "We decided to include such content within the special metropolitan city category," adding, "We judged that using terms like special metropolitan city, metropolitan city, special autonomous city, and special autonomous province, similar to Seoul Special City, would be smoother."