Gwangju City and South Jeolla Province have formalized a push for administrative integration.
Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung and South Jeolla Governor Kim Yung-rok on the 2nd visited the National May 18 Democratic Cemetery in Unjeong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, and announced a "Gwangju–South Jeolla grand integration promotion joint declaration."
Kang and Kim said, "Under the Lee Jae-myung administration, we are planning bold incentives such as granting status and organizational special cases equivalent to those of Seoul Special City, additional allocation of local allocation tax, and priority transfer of public institutions," adding, "Now is a Critical opportunity to move toward the path of Gwangju–South Jeolla grand integration." The two leaders set a concrete goal of electing a unified Gwangju–South Jeolla chief in the June 3 local elections this year.
To maximize the synergy effect of integration, the two jurisdictions agreed to make every effort to secure bold fiscal and authority devolution and special cases from the government, and to pursue measures for regional development and to improve the welfare of city and provincial residents.
Gwangju City and South Jeolla Province decided to actively push for the enactment of a special law to establish an integrated local government that includes administrative district integration and tailored special cases. They also agreed to work to reflect in the special law provisions that would allow the integrated local government to secure practical powers and functions equivalent to those of a federal state through the devolution of national administrative and fiscal authority.
For working-level consultations on administrative district integration, they will establish a tentatively named Gwangju–South Jeolla integration promotion council composed of an equal number of members from both jurisdictions and appoint four co-representatives, including the vice mayors and vice governors of the two local governments as ex officio members.
In the process of consulting on the promotion of the integrated local government, they will listen to the opinions of the Gwangju City Council and the South Jeolla Provincial Council and work to build consensus among city and provincial residents.
Gwangju City and South Jeolla Province will finalize an integration plan for the city and province after sufficient collection of public opinion and pursue integration as swiftly as possible to achieve joint development of Gwangju and South Jeolla.