Gyeongnam Province Asks, "What Do You Think About Busan-Gyeongnam Administrative Integration?"

City and Province Residents' Debate and Public Opinion Survey Conducted

Gyeongsangnam-do asks residents for their opinions on administrative integration with Busan.

Gyeongnam Province announced on the 14th that it will jointly hold an administrative integration forum with Busan City on the 27th.

According to the province, following the first forum on that day, a total of three sessions will be held in Jinju, Gyeongnam, and Busan in May.

Subsequently, at the end of May and early June, Gyeongnam Province and Busan City will sequentially conduct opinion polls targeting 2,000 residents from both cities and provinces.

Gyeongnam Provincial Government Office.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

The province plans to comprehensively analyze the results of the forums and opinion polls and decide whether to officially proceed with the administrative integration process from the second half of the year based on the will of the residents of both cities and provinces.

In October last year, the governors of the three cities and provinces in the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) region decided to abolish the Bu-Ul-Gyeong Special Union, and Governor Park Wan-su of Gyeongnam and Mayor Park Hyung-joon of Busan agreed to promote administrative integration.

Since then, the two cities and provinces have held working-level discussions and launched a working-level promotion committee composed of officials from Gyeongnam Province and Busan City on February 15 this year, preparing plans to promote administrative integration.

Kim Ki-young, Director of Planning and Coordination, said, “The administrative integration between Busan and Gyeongnam is a necessary path to overcome the regional extinction crisis faced by the two areas and the unipolar system centered on the metropolitan area, and to achieve sustainable growth for South Korea. However, the opinions of Gyeongnam residents and Busan citizens are the most important.” He added, “We hope for active interest and participation in collecting opinions from Gyeongnam residents and Busan citizens regarding administrative integration.”

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