Jeonnam Province took action as 119 of the 386 provisions of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Administrative Integration Special Act were not accepted.
According to Jeonnam Province on the 9th, a meeting will be held at the Prime Minister’s official residence this afternoon between Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jeong and local lawmakers regarding the special bill for administrative integration of Jeonnam and Gwangju.
In addition, discussions will continue with Prime Minister Kim Min-seok to reflect key special provisions during the review of the bill subcommittee of the Public Administration and Security Committee on the 10th and 11th.
Governor Kim Young-rok criticized, “The President emphasizes local-led growth, but the ministries are unlikely to give up their vested authority,” and added, “(If this continues), there is a risk that it will degenerate into a special law in name only, with almost no substantive special provisions.”
He continued, “There is talk of passing the law first and modifying it later, but looking at the behavior of the central government so far, ‘later’ cannot be promised,” he said.
The previous day, the ‘5th meeting to discuss the Jeonnam Gwangju Special Act’ was held at the Namak Campus of Mokpo University. At this event, Governor Kim, Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jeong, and local lawmakers attended the meeting, and discussions continued on responding to the special bill during the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee review process.
According to the opinions received from the provinces and cities and central ministries, 119 of the 386 provisions of the Jeonnam Gwangju Special Act were not accepted or reduced.
The reasons for non-acceptance were ▲maintaining national standards ▲compliance with related basic laws ▲equity with other local governments.
In fact, it was reported that a large number of articles regarding the exercise of substantive authority by the head of the integrated organization in promoting industrial and energy projects, which the province and city claimed, were not accepted.
Accordingly, the province plans to request: ▲ transfer of power generation licenses up to 40 MW for solar power and 100 MW for wind power in relation to special provisions for the electricity business ▲ transfer of authority to designate agricultural districts in relation to agricultural solar power ▲ transfer of authority to designate farming-type districts in relation to financial support ▲ establishment of a permanent financial support system such as the establishment of integrated special grants, rather than the temporary support promised by the government.
After the meeting, the province and city also announced a joint resolution by local lawmakers and city and provincial governors calling for the enactment of a ‘true integration special law.’
The province plans to proceed with the procedures for administrative integration with the goal of passing the National Assembly at the end of February as originally scheduled.
A provincial official said, “The opinions of the central government are literally just opinions, so there will be no setbacks in the procedures for passing the special law. However, we will continue discussions to ensure that the opinions that are not accepted are reflected.”
date: 2026-02-09 02:02:00
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