North Gyeongsang Province has asked the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee to move quickly on a special bill to merge the province with the neighboring city of Daegu.
Lee Sang-soo, head of the province's local government strategy bureau, met with committee chair Seo Young-kyo on the 8th and requested a prompt review and passage of the bill, which is pending before the committee, the province said on the 9th.
Lee said the Daegu-North Gyeongsang merger is a task aimed at overcoming the dominance of the greater Seoul area, building growth engines outside the capital region and achieving balanced national development.
He also said that for a region to design and carry out its own growth strategy, it needs substantive authority and financial backing, adding that administrative integration could serve as a new regional development model that raises local autonomy and competitiveness.
Seo said she agreed with the need for the merger and its underlying purpose, and pledged to help ensure the process proceeds without setbacks.
The province views the regular session of the National Assembly in September as a critical turning point for the merger drive. It plans to explain the case for the legislation to committee members, ruling and opposition party leaders and lawmakers from the region, and to respond actively during the bill's review.
Meanwhile, the merged Gwangju-South Jeolla metropolitan city, which launched in July this year, has secured 5 trillion won in next year's government budget proposal out of the state's pledged support of 5 trillion won a year, or up to 20 trillion won over four years. Follow-up incentives, including the creation of a fund to support merged local governments, are also gaining momentum.
