JEONNAM-GWANGJU — The merged administration of Jeonnam and Gwangju is moving into full gear.
The Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City said on the 18th that it will put a new organizational structure into effect on Oct. 7, after its first reorganization plan since the merger cleared a plenary session of the integrated special city council.
At the heart of the reorganization are a division of functions among three government office complexes and the creation of dedicated units for future industries. The special city said it moved beyond simply combining the former administrative bodies of Jeonnam and Gwangju, instead building an execution structure that reflects the characteristics of each region and new administrative demands.
After the reorganization, the special city will operate with four senior offices, seven headquarters and 28 bureaus, spread across three regional office complexes. Its authorized headcount is 11,178.
The three office complexes will divide roles by function.
The eastern Jeonnam office will handle industry and the economy, labor and jobs, and forestry. The Muan office will oversee balanced development, budget and finance, tourism, agriculture, fisheries and livestock, and health and welfare. The Gwangju office will focus on semiconductors and artificial intelligence, planning and coordination, metropolitan urban administration, and culture and human rights. Core support functions such as planning, budget and personnel were also distributed so that they would not be concentrated in any single complex. The executive branch said it weighed both balance among the complexes and the need to keep related work connected.
The city also redrew its future growth pillars.
Jeonnam-Gwangju will create a semiconductor industry support office, a balanced development office, a regional health care innovation headquarters and a citizen sovereignty headquarters. The aim is to concentrate administrative capacity on fostering future industries such as semiconductors and AI, promoting balanced development across regions, strengthening the local medical system and expanding citizen participation.
Overlapping functions will be trimmed while new demands are reinforced.
Similar and duplicated functions from the former Jeonnam and Gwangju administrations will be consolidated or abolished. Areas where administrative demand has grown, such as AI and secondary batteries, will be reinforced instead. Health and welfare, the environment, and agriculture and livestock will be realigned to improve on-the-ground responsiveness in each region.
The path to passage, however, was not smooth.
At the third plenary session of its first regular session of the third assembly, the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Council passed a full amendment to the ordinance establishing the administrative organization of the integrated special city, with 46 in favor, 35 against and eight abstentions among 89 members present.
A majority of the members present is 45. The number of votes in favor exceeded that by a single vote, meaning the special city's first reorganization plan barely cleared the plenary session.
A partial amendment to the ordinance on the authorized number of public officials, which covers the redeployment of personnel under the reorganization, also passed. That bill was approved with 62 in favor, 15 against and seven abstentions among 84 members present.
Opposition voices continued to be heard before the plenary vote.
The reorganization went through a difficult process as the allocation of functions among the complexes, the placement of public officials and regional interests all came into play. The council's planning and finance committee had earlier suspended its review on the 9th. The executive branch then submitted a revised plan, and the bill cleared the standing committee on the 15th.
Ahead of the plenary session, a dispute also flared within the Democratic Party of Korea over whether to vote along party lines. Tension inside the council ran high given that the reorganization plan is the first step in administrative integration and involves the interests of each region.
The executive branch plans to move quickly on follow-up personnel decisions.
Some senior-level promotions will be announced before the Chuseok holiday. The remaining promotions and transfers will follow after Chuseok, with the goal of completing all personnel decisions before the reorganization takes effect on Oct. 7.
Hwang Ki-yeon, administrative vice mayor of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, said the reorganization "focuses on increasing the benefits and convenience that citizens actually feel, along with balanced regional development and stable integrated operation of the organization."
The Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City says it will use the reorganization to translate the merger into tangible results in citizens' daily lives.
Passage of the reorganization has set integration talks in motion, but the challenges are clear.
Whether a new structure approved by a single vote can overcome regional friction and deliver results for integrated administration now faces its first test.
