Central Ministries Oppose 119 Special Provisions... Integration Momentum Wavers
Calls to Include Financial Support, Assembly Composition, Corporate Incentives, and Authority Transfers
Seeking to Secure Special Provisions through Public Administration Committee Hearing and Meeting with Prime Minister
As key special provisions in the Jeonnam-Gwangju administrative integration special act faced major resistance during the government’s review process, Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung has begun lobbying the National Assembly and the central government to secure their inclusion.
On February 9, Mayor Kang attended a legislative public hearing of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee on the administrative integration special act, calling for the National Assembly to play an active role. On Tuesday evening, he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Kim Min-seok together with South Jeolla Province Governor Kim Young-rok and local members of the National Assembly to convey both the necessity of pursuing Gwangju-Jeonnam integration and the will of city and provincial residents.
This move comes after central government ministries on February 6 expressed opposition to 119 out of 386 special provisions contained in the special act, putting the brakes on the integration drive. Mayor Kang has framed administrative integration not as a mere administrative merger, but as a survival task on which the region’s future depends, and stressed that it is also aligned with President Lee Jae-myung’s vision of “five hubs and three special regions” for region-led growth and the realization of substantive local autonomy and decentralization.
At the public hearing, Mayor Kang said, “The central ministries have expressed opposition to 119 out of 386 special provisions,” adding, “We believed we had included only the bare minimum, so we were shocked to hear that they had opposed such a large portion.”
Mayor Kang presented as core elements that must be included in this special act: clarification in law of financial support; ensuring fairness in the composition of the assembly; inclusion of special provisions to attract businesses; and the transfer of authority to the five autonomous districts.
Mayor Kang stated, “There is a sense of urgency that we have no other choice but to push ahead with integration now,” and added, “This special act should also be pursued from the perspective of serving as a pilot project for moving toward local governments at a federal level in the future.”
Earlier, on February 8 at Mokpo National University’s Namak Campus, during the “5th Meeting between Mayors/Governors and Local Members of the National Assembly on the Special Act for the Establishment of the Integrated Jeonnam-Gwangju Metropolitan City,” Mayor Kang also called for decisive action from the central ministries. At that time, Gwangju-Jeonnam members of the National Assembly and the city and provincial governors issued a joint resolution demanding the enactment of a special act containing bold special provisions on finances and authority.
Mayor Kang said, “The integration of Gwangju and Jeonnam is not a local civil complaint, but an issue of survival for the Republic of Korea and for the region, and a national task,” and added, “Through the enactment of a truly substantive special act that is not bound by convention or existing systems, we must achieve an integration that transforms the lives of city and provincial residents.”
The Gwangju Metropolitan Government plans to continue its efforts to secure the inclusion of key special provisions by engaging with central ministries and the National Assembly in line with the Assembly’s deliberation schedule.
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