Greater Significance with the Passage of the Special Act in the National Assembly
Jeollanam-do Governor Youngrok Kim is taking a commemorative photo with Gwangju Seo-gu Mayor Ikang Kim and other attendees at the "Jeonnam-Gwangju Administrative Integration Gwangju Autonomous District Invitation Townhall Meeting (Seo-gu)" held on the 3rd at the Seobitmaru Culture and Arts Center in Gwangju. Provided by Jeonnam Province.
On March 3, Jeollanam-do visited Seo-gu in Gwangju Metropolitan City to hold an administrative integration town hall meeting.
The Seo-gu town hall meeting, which was the second event in the series of town hall meetings touring the five autonomous districts of Gwangju, was held at the Seobitmaru Culture and Arts Center performance hall. The event was attended by Kim Youngrok, Governor of Jeollanam-do, the Mayor of Seo-gu, National Assembly member Yang Bunam, the chair and members of the district council, members of the residents’ autonomy committee, community leaders, heads of social organizations, and about 300 citizens.
At the event, citizens and officials shared the future vision of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City and gathered a variety of opinions from the field. The significance of the meeting was heightened by the passage of the “Special Act on the Establishment of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City” at the National Assembly plenary session on March 1.
Governor Kim Youngrok gave a direct presentation on the progress of the integration initiative, the future vision of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City, and the main special provisions of the special act. During the subsequent Q&A and feedback session, open and candid conversations were held with citizens to broadly share both expectations and concerns. The opinions presented during the meeting will be actively reflected in the future institutional design of the integrated metropolitan city.
A Jeollanam-do official stated, “With the passage of the Special Act on the Establishment of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City in the National Assembly on March 1, the dream of Korea’s first large-scale metropolitan integration has been realized. This historic integration was made possible thanks to the full support of the Lee Jaemyung administration and the passionate aspirations of 3.2 million citizens in the region. We are deeply grateful.”
The official continued, “The Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City, which will be launched on July 1, will open a new era of great prosperity, moving from a population of 3.2 million toward the era of 4 million. Seo-gu will emerge as the administrative and business center of the integrated metropolitan city by building a regional economic control tower for AI and semiconductors, reorganizing as a business hub, attracting large-scale international events and expos such as the 2028 G20 Summit at the Kim Daejung Convention Center, and creating urban innovation spaces through terminal complex development projects.”
Jeollanam-do plans to continue accelerating preparations for the launch of the integrated metropolitan city through ongoing communication, including holding additional town hall meetings in the remaining autonomous districts such as Gwangsan-gu on March 5, following those already held in Dong-gu and Seo-gu.
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