[Column] Daejeon-Chungnam Administrative Integration: Only a Decision Is Needed

Shin Youngho, Chairman of the Chungnam-Daejeon Administrative Integration Special Committee of the Chungnam Provincial Council

Chungcheongnam-do and Daejeon Metropolitan City have long grown as a community, sharing administrative, industrial, and living spheres in a mutually complementary manner. Human and material exchanges are already part of daily life, and the industrial, scientific, educational, and research infrastructures are closely connected as a single region.

Nevertheless, as the concentration of power in the Seoul metropolitan area intensifies and the crisis of local extinction accelerates, it has become clear that the existing administrative system alone is no longer sufficient to maintain the region's competitiveness.

Against this backdrop, the discussion on administrative integration between Daejeon and Chungnam is not simply about redrawing administrative boundaries. It is a strategic choice to consolidate administrative capabilities at the metropolitan level, link industrial, scientific, and economic functions, and restructure the central region as a key pillar of balanced national development.

The "Special Act on the Establishment of Daejeon-Chungnam Special City and the Creation of an Economic and Scientific Capital," which was submitted to the National Assembly in October last year, is the institutional outcome of these discussions on administrative integration.

This bill was prepared based on discussions and agreements between Chungnam Province, Daejeon City, and their respective councils. It aims to ensure procedural legitimacy for administrative integration and to achieve genuine local autonomy by strengthening self-governance and fiscal authority.

It is noteworthy that the government recently proposed the "Five Hubs, Three Specials" strategy for balanced national development and addressing local extinction, and that the President has also expressed interest in the Daejeon-Chungnam administrative integration. However, it is necessary to raise clear concerns about the government's move to introduce a new special act in February, separate from the special act already under review in the National Assembly.

Introducing another bill when the region's consensus has already been relatively clearly formed is likely to delay discussions and dissipate momentum, rather than accelerate administrative integration.

In particular, presenting a new alternative while belatedly expressing support for integration cannot be considered a responsible attitude toward achieving full integration.

The key issue for Daejeon-Chungnam administrative integration is not to propose a new plan, but to properly implement the plan that has already been agreed upon in the region. If a special act that incorporates both procedural justification and momentum for implementation has already been submitted to the National Assembly, it is only right for both the National Assembly and the government to respect it and reach a prompt conclusion.

Daegu and Gyeongbuk have resumed integration discussions through dramatic agreement, and Gwangju and Jeonnam are actively seeking a way forward with shared intent. In contrast, Daejeon and Chungnam have already clearly presented the need and effectiveness of administrative, industrial, and living sphere integration. Sending a region that is more prepared than any other back to the starting line is tantamount to shirking policy responsibility.

Daejeon-Chungnam administrative integration is a task that can no longer be postponed. The longer the discussion is delayed, the more the region's growth opportunities will disappear, and the concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area and local extinction will only become more entrenched.

What is needed now is not further discussion, but a decision. The National Assembly must promptly begin deliberations on the special act jointly supported by both city and provincial councils, and the government must provide institutional support for this process.

Shin Youngho, Chairman of the Chungnam-Daejeon Administrative Integration Special Committee of the Chungnam Provincial Council