Gwangju's 27 cities, counties, and districts are requesting $1 billion from a total of $20 billion in administrative consolidation support.
On September 17, the Gwangju Mayors, County Heads, and District Heads Council held its first regular meeting in Nam-gu, where they decided on 12 proposals.
Among these, they agreed to jointly request the distribution of approximately $1 billion from the consolidation support to the 27 local governments.
The council expressed concern that if the principal amount is focused on advanced industries and large-scale social infrastructure investments, rural areas may be left out of the benefits of consolidation.
The Gwangju Special City, formed from the merger of the former Gwangju City and Jeonnam Province, is set to receive up to $50 billion annually from the government over four years as an incentive for the merger.
Of this, $650 million in local surplus funds and $1.5 billion allocated for semiconductor support projects will be excluded, leaving $28.5 billion for the consolidated city to manage.
The council also demanded that mayors, county heads, and district heads should have the authority to appoint deputy heads in their respective local governments.
Under the current Local Autonomy Act, deputy heads of cities, counties, and districts are appointed by mayors and county heads, but in practice, appointments are made through personnel exchanges with provincial governments, limiting the authority of local leaders.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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