The Special Local Government Office for Bu-Ul-Gyeong is in 'Gyeongnam'... Agreement on the Charter Draft by Chairpersons of 3 Cities and Provinces

Scene from the opening ceremony of the Joint Promotion Team for the Special Local Government of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam held in July last year / Photo by Gyeongnam Province Provided

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Ju Cheol-in] The special local government office for the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) Mega City will be established in Gyeongnam.

According to Gyeongnam Province and the provincial council on the 11th, the chairpersons of the special and standing committees of the three city and provincial councils of Bu-Ul-Gyeong held a joint meeting in Yangsan on the 10th and agreed on the regulations for establishing the special local government.

They reaffirmed the agreement made at the chairpersons' meeting on the 14th of last month and documented it in a confirmation letter. The letter included the agreement to collectively decide on the location of the office and the number of council members and to reflect these in the regulations.

Among the collective agreements, the office location was decided to be in the "geographical center and central area of Bu-Ul-Gyeong." Since the geographical center of Bu-Ul-Gyeong inevitably falls within Gyeongnam, including Yangsan and Gimhae, it is interpreted that the office location has effectively been agreed to be in Gyeongnam.

The number of council members was agreed to be 27 in total, with 9 members each from Bu-Ul-Gyeong. This settles the controversy that had arisen over the office location and the number of council members among the three cities and provinces.

Ulsan raised objections to placing the office location at the "geographical center," and Gyeongnam, which has a larger population and more council members, opposed the equal distribution of council seats.

However, with the reconfirmation of the agreement at the recent joint meeting of the three city and provincial chairpersons, the launch of the Bu-Ul-Gyeong special local government is expected to become more tangible.

The regulations will be finally discussed at a six-party meeting involving the governors and council chairpersons of the three cities and provinces, followed by administrative notice, council approval, and approval from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety before being officially announced.

Gyeongnam Province anticipates that if administrative procedures proceed smoothly, the special local government will be launched between late March and early April, and after organizing the special local government council and revising related regulations, actual operations could begin in the second half of this year or early next year.

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