How Has Gyeonggi Province's Administrative Organization Changed?

Gyeonggi Province published the "Gyeonggi Provincial Organizational History" on the 26th, which systematically documents how the province's administrative organization has evolved from immediately after liberation in 1946 to the end of last year.

The book contains information about the origin and history of Gyeonggi Province, changes in administrative divisions and organization, current organizational charts and staffing tables, and successive provincial governors.

According to the book, the name "Gyeonggi" originated when the Goryeo court during the reign of King Hyeonjong designated the present-day Gaeseong region as Gyeonggi and established the Gaeseong Prefecture as the administrative agency to oversee it. The current Gyeonggi Province was established in the 16th year of King Sejong's reign (1434).

Gyeonggi Province's organization was finalized in October 1946 when the U.S. Military Government authorities implemented the provincial system (道制) with centralized authority. At that time, eight departments including the Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Health and Welfare were established as provincial government agencies under the provincial governor.

During the 1950s, there were almost no changes to the administrative organization due to the Korean War and other factors. However, beginning in the 1960s, with the implementation of economic development policies, administrative districts began to expand dramatically. By 1963, the organization had transformed into a system of three offices, six departments, two bureaus, and 33 business divisions.

A notable point is that the Police Bureau, which is now the Provincial Police Agency, was a direct agency under the provincial governor.

At that time, the Police Bureau was composed of five divisions: the Police Affairs Division, Security Division, Investigation Division, Information Division, and Communication Division. It subsequently expanded, and by 1988, it had grown to nine divisions under a bureau chief. The following year, it was completely separated from the provincial government.

Additionally, the Northern Branch Office (located in Uijeongbu), the predecessor of the current Second Bureau, was launched in 1967 with two divisions: the General Affairs Division and the Industrial Development Division. In 2000, it was promoted to an administrative vice governor system and has since expanded to the current system of one office, five departments, three directors, and 16 divisions.

The vice governor system was introduced in 1964. With the full implementation of local autonomy in 1996, the Political Affairs Vice Governor system was introduced. In 2000, with the Northern Branch Office expanding into the Second Bureau, the current system of administrative first and second vice governors and a political affairs vice governor was established.

Through these changes, Gyeonggi Province's administrative organization has expanded to a system of three offices, two headquarters, and 13 departments as of the end of last year. The number of civil servants has nearly doubled from 897 in 1969 to 8,275 at the end of last year.

The population has also surged from 2.75 million in 1960 to 11.1 million at the end of last year.

During this period, there have been 32 successive provincial governors beginning with Governor Gu Ja-ok (1946), the first governor, followed by Kim Moon-soo, the current 32nd governor, who took office last year.

The governing principles of successive provincial governors have varied greatly, from "patriotic devotion" (1st governor) to "advancing Gyeonggi Province" (32nd governor), with words such as harmony, excellence, first-class, and cleanliness being primarily used.