[Lunar New Year Special] Deputy Governor Kang Wiweon of Jeollanam-do on the Administrative Integration of Jeollanam-do and Gwangju

Kang Wiweon: "The Integration of Jeollanam-do and Gwangju Is Essentially About Designing a 4-Million-Resident Economic Zone"
Strategic Choices Needed to Overcome the Risk of Regional Extinction
Real Effectiveness Requires the Trio of Finance, Authority, and Industrial Clusters

Greenbelt and Offshore Wind Permitting Powers Determine Investment Speed
Second-Phase Relocation of Public Institutions: Beyond "Balance" to "Industrial Linkages"
Beware Zero-Sum Battles over Government Complexes... The Essence Is Economic Impact

Kang Wiwon, Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs of Jeollanam-do, is explaining the recent Jeollanam-do and Gwangju administrative integration process and the direction to take going forward. Reporter Sim Jinseok

Kang Wiweon, Deputy Governor for Economy of Jeollanam-do, stated that the administrative integration between Jeollanam-do and Gwangju should be viewed as an "economic structural transformation project," rather than a simple reorganization of local administration. He believes that tangible effects will only emerge when not just regional or organizational integration, but also "restructuring of fiscal systems," "delegation of authority," and "reallocation of industrial clusters" take place simultaneously.

His remarks also reflect a critical awareness that the integration debate must shift from "symbolic politics" to an "economic strategy."

He said, "At this point, it is less a phase of conflict over administrative integration than a stage of coordination over institutional design," adding, "The key issue is how much authority and how many financial resources local governments can actually exercise."

■ 20 trillion won in support: 'Structure' matters more than the amount

The government has pledged fiscal support of 5 trillion won per year, totaling 20 trillion won over four years, for the newly integrated special city. In effect, it has presented this as a kind of seed fund to offset initial integration costs and to foster projects tailored to regional characteristics.

On this, Kang pointed out, "Even in terms of the amount alone, it is highly symbolic, but what is more important is the nature of the financial resources." He stressed that, unlike in the past, this should not be a labeled, earmarked budget tied to specific projects, but should instead be structured so that local governments can autonomously invest in strategic industries.

He added that this must be backed by an institutional foundation, such as adjustments between national and local taxes and reforms to the system of local allocation tax, rather than remaining a short-term fiscal support measure.

Deputy Governor Kang said, "Since it is difficult to include everything in a special act, I believe that a permanent fiscal structure must also be designed in parallel through amendments to general laws," and added, "If the integration is not to end as an 'event-type policy,' we must carefully consider in what direction to design the annual 5 trillion won in financial resources."

■ Delegation of authority determines the speed of investment decisions

Regarding the delegation of authority (the transfer of central government powers to the integrated autonomous entity), which has emerged as a source of conflict in this integration process, he expressed the view that an appropriate distribution is needed in line with local conditions.

Through the special integration act, Jeollanam-do and Gwangju requested special cases such as tax reductions and exemptions on local allocation tax and local taxes, guarantees of clarity in government fiscal support, transfer of energy-related authority to the special mayor, and the power to lift greenbelt zoning. However, as these demands were not fully accepted, local assessments have been mixed.

Deputy Governor Kang said, "Leaving other aspects aside, the transfer of the authority to lift greenbelt zoning and the permitting authority for offshore wind power is directly linked to the speed of industrial policy," explaining, "In attracting large-scale investment, the most important factor is the speed of decision-making, and local governments must be able to make responsible decisions within a certain scope so as not to miss the timing of corporate investment."

He went on to stress the need for institutional reform, pointing out that "in the case of offshore wind power, the current limit of 3 MW on local authority is out of step with the actual scale of projects."

On concerns raised in some quarters that granting the authority to lift greenbelt zoning could lead to disorderly development, he drew a clear line, saying, "Along with the expansion of authority, control mechanisms (such as the effective operation of urban planning committees and farmland management committees) must also be strengthened." This is seen as pursuing a "managed decentralization" model that secures both autonomy and accountability.

Earlier, on the 12th, the special integration act for Jeollanam-do and Gwangju passed the Legislation Subcommittee of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, as well as the committee’s plenary session. Of the 31 items that the city and province classified as core special cases, 19 were fully or partially reflected in the special act that passed the plenary session.

Specifically, these include: (1) "Creation of an energy self-reliant city," which provides the legal basis for support from the Electric Power Industry Basis Fund; (2) "Special cases concerning the Electric Utility Act," which expand the permitting authority for solar and wind power generation projects up to 20 MW; and (3) "Special support for building power grids to promote distributed energy," which provides a legal basis for the state to support the costs of installing transmission and distribution facilities in regions specialized in distributed energy.

They also include: (4) "Special cases concerning the development of fishery resources," which transfer the authority to license new aquaculture farms and fisheries to the special mayor; and (5) "Special national support for resolving grid saturation caused by renewable energy," which imposes on the state an obligation to prepare measures such as expanding transmission and substation facilities and installing energy storage systems (ESS) to ease grid saturation.

However, provisions to codify the government’s large-scale fiscal support and special cases for agrivoltaic (farmland-based) solar power were not included in the resolution passed this time.

■ Relocating public institutions: 'Dispersion' and 'concentration' at the same time

Regarding the second phase of public institution relocations currently being pursued by the government, he expressed the view that the policy should be designed to generate both agglomeration effects and dispersion effects at the same time. While the first phase of relocations focused on "regional balance," the second phase, he argued, must take into account the linkage with industrial ecosystems that match regional characteristics.

Kang said, "The previous administration sought balanced development by promoting the relocation of the administrative capital, establishing innovation cities, and implementing the first phase of public institution relocations, but in the end, the intended outcomes, such as population growth and regional revitalization, did not materialize at all," adding, "This is why the Lee Jaemyung administration is trying to connect the push for administrative integration to a national strategy in order to overcome the single-core system of the Seoul metropolitan area."

He continued, "In the past, Jeollanam-do used to speak of having 4 million residents. Now, even when Gwangju and Jeollanam-do are combined, the total is only about 3.2 million. We need to bring in another 800,000 people," and explained, "The precondition is securing jobs. We must attract companies. Strategic placement tailored to the industrial characteristics of the eastern, western, southern, and northern zones is necessary."

He added, "The ripple effects are maximized when energy, marine, future mobility, and other existing industrial bases are linked together. Simply concentrating everything in one place does not generate synergy," and said, "Institutions that should be located in Naju Innovation City, based on their nature, should go there, and institutions that should be in the eastern or western zones should be relocated to those respective areas."

At present, Jeollanam-do plans to reorganize the integrated Jeollanam-do-Gwangju special city into four major zones, a "3+1 axis," by adding a new southern zone to the existing Gwangju zone, western zone, and eastern zone. The province intends to develop specialized industrial complexes totaling 40 million pyeong in area and to build new high-tech industrial cities tailored to each region’s characteristics, such as AI, semiconductors, and energy, thereby completing a special city of 4 million residents.

This plan aligns with the broader vision of fostering Gwangju and Jeollanam-do as a single economic zone after integration.

■ The dispute over the main government complex is 'zero-sum'; the essence is economic impact

He expressed a cautious stance on the conflict over the location of the main government complex, which has emerged as a key issue in the process of promoting administrative integration.

Kang drew a clear line, saying, "The issue of the main government complex is highly symbolic, but it is not the essence." He believes that if the location of the complex is decided first, regional confrontation could intensify.

He pointed out, "If we fight over the issue of the main government complex, it ultimately amounts to saying that we should not pursue administrative integration at all," and added, "If we try to decide on one specific location under the current circumstances, it will become a zero-sum game in which not a single step forward can be taken."

He said, "Honam has long maintained a government office-centered mindset. Because there was, so to speak, little to live on, development took place around government offices," and added, "Now, instead of arguing over where the main government complex should be, we should look at the issue from the perspective of how to design a structure in which the economic ripple effects complement each other."

This is interpreted as a remark based on the recognition that strategies for attracting industries and investment, rather than competition to host the government complex, will determine the success or failure of integration.

Deputy Governor Kang stated, "To overcome the region’s structural constraints of population decline and industrial stagnation, Gwangju and Jeollanam-do are weak in competitiveness when acting as separate units," and added, "If we unify administrative, fiscal, and industrial policies through integration, our bargaining power in attracting national strategic industries and pursuing large-scale projects will increase."

He further said, "Integration is not a political symbol but a choice to reshape the landscape of future industries," and emphasized, "Only by comprehensively designing fiscal systems, authority, and industrial strategies can we achieve tangible results."

In closing, Deputy Governor Kang said, "The integration debate has now moved beyond the question of pros and cons to the stage of determining what kind of structure we will design," and added, "As large corporations such as Samsung are increasingly turning their attention to the region, we must unite our efforts rather than focus on conflict."

He added, "Administrative integration must not remain at the level of symbolic politics; it must serve as a real opportunity for industrial restructuring that enables Gwangju and Jeollanam-do to survive."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.