Incheon, Seo-gu Followed by Claims for "Yeonsu-gu and Namdong-gu to Also Split"

Incheon City Council Research Group Holds Meeting
Discusses Administrative Reorganization into Autonomous Districts 'Songdo-dong' and 'Nonhyeon-dong'

Incheon City is currently promoting an administrative system reorganization to divide Jung-gu's Yeongjongdo into 'Yeongjong-gu' and Seo-gu's Geomdan area into 'Geomdan-gu,' while opinions are emerging that Yeonsu-gu and Namdong-gu should also be divided.

According to the Incheon City Council on the 2nd, the council's research group, 'Research Association for Expanding Autonomous Districts through Division of Incheon City,' recently held a seminar attended by related officials to discuss separating Yeonsu-gu's Songdo-dong and Namdong-gu's Nonhyeon-dong areas into Songdo-gu and Nonhyeon-gu, respectively.

Geum Chang-ho, a distinguished research fellow at the Korea Institute of Local Administration, who was invited as a lecturer, stated, "Division should be reviewed considering various factors such as population, housing, education, and environment," adding, "Incheon, a metropolitan city with a population of 3 million, has sufficient necessity for expanding autonomous districts through division, considering population inflow and residential conditions."

Lee Kang-gu, the representative council member of the research group, said, "The autonomous districts of Yeongjong and Geomdan promoted by Incheon City must be realized, and Yeonsu-gu's Songdo area and Namdong-gu's Nonhyeon area, which have sufficient expansion potential due to urban development, should also reorganize their administrative systems into autonomous districts to provide convenient administrative services for citizens." He added, "We will continue to think more intensively about ways to promote regional development and increase residents' welfare through the expansion of autonomous districts."

The 'Research Group on Expanding and Reorganizing Autonomous Districts,' a study group of Incheon City Council members, held a meeting on the 31st of last month to discuss the administrative reorganization plan to establish Songdo-dong in Yeonsu-gu and Nonhyeon-dong in Namdong-gu as autonomous districts, and took a commemorative photo with the participants afterward. 2023.7.31 [Photo by Incheon City Council]

Namdong-gu, with a population of 500,000, and Yeonsu-gu, with 390,000 residents, have not yet shown any movements to promote division at the local government level. However, Incheon City expects that Namdong-gu's population will significantly increase once the Guwol 2 District development is completed, and plans to review whether to reorganize administrative districts after gathering residents' opinions and consulting with central government ministries.

In Yeonsu-gu, some residents of Songdo International City have persistently argued for separating Yeonsu-gu's original downtown area and Songdo International City. Last September, three residents' organizations in Yeonsu-gu, including the Songdo Citizens' Coalition, strongly opposed Incheon City's administrative district reorganization plan, claiming that Songdo International City was not included.

They argued, "Songdo is an island-like area connected to the outside by eight bridges and was originally developed as an economic special zone (Free Economic Zone) based on the premise of division," adding, "Although it is under Yeonsu-gu's jurisdiction for administrative convenience, it is geographically and historically separated from the original downtown area without any consensus." They also pointed out, "Incheon City unilaterally set the division areas without any discussion with citizens, political circles, or basic local governments, depriving us of the opportunity to discuss."

Meanwhile, Incheon City has formally submitted an administrative system reorganization plan to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety last June, which includes creating a new 'Jemulpo-gu' by merging Jung-gu's inland area and Dong-gu, separating Jung-gu's island areas into 'Yeongjong-gu,' and dividing Seo-gu into 'Seo-gu' and 'Geomdan-gu' based on the Gyeongin Ara Waterway.

If the Ministry of the Interior and Safety deems the city's proposal reasonable, it will proceed with enacting a law, submit a government bill to the National Assembly after the Cabinet meeting. The administrative system reorganization requires the enactment of a law after gathering opinions from local councils under the Local Autonomy Act. Incheon City aims to complete the necessary legislation for the administrative system reorganization during the 21st National Assembly session, hold the 2026 local elections in line with the reorganization, and inaugurate the 9th elected mayoral term accordingly.

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