Gwangju City Urges Jeonnam to Decide, Calls for Special Metropolitan Union Launch This Year

"Development Cannot Be Delayed Due to Regional Disagreements"
7 Out of 10 Citizens Say "Special Metropolitan Union Is Necessary"

The Gwangju City Government has once again emphasized the need to launch the "Gwangju-Jeonnam Special Metropolitan Union" within this year, urging cooperation from Jeonnam Province. The city stressed that decisive action for the joint development of the Honam region is urgently needed amid the concentration of population and resources in the Seoul metropolitan area and the risk of regional extinction.

On August 27, the "Gwangju-Jeonnam Special Metropolitan Union Promotion Declaration Ceremony" was held in the main conference room of Naju City Hall, Jeonnam. From the left in the photo are Kim Ki-jung, Mayor of Gwangju; Kim Kyung-soo, Chairman of the Local Era Committee; and Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam. Provided by Gwangju City · Yonhap News Agency

On November 4, Gwangju City issued a statement saying, "We are faithfully carrying out the procedures to establish the Gwangju-Jeonnam Special Metropolitan Union, and the City Council also demonstrated its firm commitment to wide-area cooperation by finally approving the agreement on October 24." The city emphasized that this decision represents meaningful progress toward the successful launch of the Special Metropolitan Union and reflects the aspirations of its citizens.

The city also stated, "The 'Five Major Regions, Three Special Strategies' of the Lee Jaemyung administration are essential tasks for the Honam region to secure new growth engines in order to overcome the concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area and the crisis of regional extinction. Delaying the launch due to conflicting interests between regions or internal disagreements will only postpone opportunities for development." The statement continued, "Since the Jeonnam Provincial Council has not yet submitted the agreement for review, there are concerns about delays in launching within this year. We urge the council to approve it immediately without further delay and complete the legal and administrative procedures."

Meanwhile, a recent public opinion survey conducted by the Gwangju City Council also confirmed strong public support for the promotion of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Special Metropolitan Union. According to the survey, 71.4% of respondents said it was "necessary," and the overall positive response to the policy was 79.2%, far surpassing the negative response (20.8%). In particular, the top priority areas for cooperation were "industrial and economic revitalization" (32.3%) and "metropolitan transportation" (31.8%), and 69.1% supported the Gwangju-Naju metropolitan railway project.

This survey was conducted by the Korea Policy Research Institute and involved telephone interviews with 700 men and women aged 18 or older residing in Gwangju Metropolitan City (sampling error ±3.7%p, 95% confidence level).

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