Suwon, Hwaseong, Osan Selected as Administrative Consolidation Target

Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan have been selected as targets for administrative district consolidation.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety announced on the 10th that six regions across the nation, comprising 16 cities and counties including Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan, have been selected as administrative consolidation target areas.

Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Dal-gon held a briefing on the 10th at the Government Central Complex in Sejongro, Seoul, regarding results of a public opinion survey on autonomous administrative consolidation. He revealed that the approval rates for consolidation from residents in these areas were found to be high.

For these areas, if consolidation is approved by the respective municipal councils, consolidation will proceed; otherwise, the decision on whether to consolidate will be made by the end of December this year through a referendum.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety plans to collect opinions from the relevant municipal councils by this month, finalize the consolidation target areas next month, and then proceed with relevant legislative amendments. The consolidated local government is expected to formally launch in July following local elections in June next year.

In relation to this, the Ministry of Interior and Safety conducted a public opinion survey from the 24th of last month for two weeks on support or opposition to administrative district consolidation among 500 to 1,000 residents from 18 regions and 46 cities and counties that submitted autonomous consolidation requests.

According to the public opinion survey conducted by four institutions including Korean Gallup and Korean Research through telephone polling under the auspices of the Korea Local Administration Research Institute, approval rates were 62.3% in Suwon, 56.3% in Hwaseong, and 63.4% in Osan. (95% confidence level, margin of error ±3.1%~±4.4%)

The Ministry of Interior and Safety decided in particular to grant administrative and financial special provisions, including substantial transfer of administrative authority, to consolidated cities with a population exceeding one million.

Suwon, which has already surpassed 1.1 million in population alone, is expected to become the nation's largest consolidated megacity combining the advantages of all three cities—Hwaseong and Osan—and birth of a ‘premium city’.

As soon as the consolidation local government is decided, the Ministry of Interior and Safety plans to establish a pan-government consultation and support body under the Prime Minister's office to prepare long-term development plans for the consolidated local government, confirm support measures by each ministry, and mediate conflicts arising in the consolidation process.

Meanwhile, among the regions announced by the Ministry of Interior and Safety as consolidation targets, within Gyeonggi Province, Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan, along with Seongnam, Hanam, and Gwangju, and Anyang, Gunpo, and Uiwang, account for half of the six target regions nationwide.