Administrative Boundary Adjustment Between Suwon City's Mangpo-dong and Hwaseong City's Banjeong-dong Advances

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] The administrative boundary adjustment between Suwon City's Mangpo-dong area and Hwaseong City's Banjeong-dong area is making progress.

The Gyeonggi Province Assembly passed a bill on the 20th to hear opinions on the boundary adjustment between Suwon's Mangpo-dong and Hwaseong's Banjeong-dong. On the 23rd, the Gyeonggi Province government office will host Suwon City, Hwaseong City, and Gyeonggi Province to sign a 'Joint Agreement on Administrative Boundary Adjustment Among Gyeonggi Province, Suwon City, and Hwaseong City for Administrative District Boundary Adjustment Between Suwon and Hwaseong Cities.'

The Suwon City Assembly unanimously passed the 'Opinion Hearing Plan for Suwon-Hwaseong Boundary Adjustment' in its plenary session on June 25, and the Hwaseong City Assembly passed the 'Opinion Hearing Bill for Administrative District Change Between Banjeong-dong, Hwaseong City and Mangpo-dong, Yeongdeunggu, Suwon City' with approval in its plenary session held on October 28. Therefore, with the signing of agreements by Suwon and Hwaseong cities and Gyeonggi Province, the administrative boundary adjustment between Suwon City and Hwaseong City is expected to advance further.

A portion of Hwaseong City's Banjeong-dong, where boundary adjustment discussions are underway, has an 'N' shape and extends deeply into the Sindong District, surrounded on three sides by Suwon City. To rationally adjust the irregular administrative boundary, the plan is to exchange equal-sized areas (198,825 ㎡) of Suwon's Mangpo-dong area (Mangpo 4 District, Blocks 4 and 5) and Hwaseong City's Banjeong-dong area (part of Sindong District, Banjeong 2 District, Blocks 1 and 2).

Inter-city boundary adjustment proceeds through complex procedures including opinion gathering from city assemblies, recommendation to Gyeonggi Province, opinion gathering from the provincial assembly, review by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and drafting of legislation, deliberation by the Legislative and Judicial Research Institute, submission to the Cabinet, promulgation, and revision of related ordinances.

Although considerable procedures remain, such as review by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and drafting of legislation, boundary adjustment is expected to proceed smoothly as the ministry typically accepts agreements reached between local governments as is. The administrative boundary adjustment is expected to be completed by the first half of next year at the earliest.

The boundary adjustment discussion between the two local governments began when Gyeonggi Province and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recommended 'establishing a comprehensive development plan including Hwaseong City's administrative district' when approving the '2030 Suwon City Master Urban Plan' in 2014. However, due to differing opinions between the two local governments, consensus was difficult to reach.

In June 2017, Suwon City submitted a policy proposal regarding boundary adjustment to 'Gwanghwamun 1st Street' (a policy proposal platform), and Mayor Yeum Tae-young registered a petition on the Blue House 'National Petitions and Proposals' bulletin board in November of the same year, appealing, "Please actively mediate at the government level so that boundary adjustment reflecting residents' opinions as the top priority can be realized."

In November 2018, Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan cities signed the 'Sansuwhwa Mutual Prosperity Agreement' and promised to establish 'cooperative frameworks for mutual benefit,' marking the beginning of earnest discussions on administrative boundary adjustment. When Suwon City presented positive opinions and alternative plans for four cooperative projects demanded by the Hwaseong City Assembly, the effort finally bore fruit.

Suwon City successfully completed administrative boundary adjustments with Uiwang City in 2013 and with Yongin City this year.

A Suwon City official stated, "We will work closely with Gyeonggi Province and Hwaseong City to ensure that residents living in administrative boundary adjustment areas do not experience inconvenience," and added, "We will make every effort until the administrative boundary adjustment is completed."