Integrated Opinion Spreading in Hwaseong's Northeast Area

The wave of support for the administrative integration of Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan—which began with the Gibae Apartment Complex Association in Hwaseong City (see Suwon Ilbo, December 9)—is rapidly spreading to Bundang and Dongtan areas. As residents from Hwaseong's northeast region, who had previously been unable to voice their opinions amid opposition from the city government and city council, are now rising up and expressing strong anti-merger sentiment, local political circles are also becoming agitated.

● 'Integration Discussion Surging' in Hwaseong's Eastern Region

The leadership of the Bundang Apartment Complex Association held an emergency meeting on the 10th and plans to conduct a resident vote through individual complexes by the 20th to gather resident opinions, with results to be announced on the 21st. The Bundang Association plans to use the voting results as a basis for union opinion determination and actions, sending official documents to various administrative agencies including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and taking direct action.

A residential representative, noting that this has not yet been determined at the union level making it difficult to speak as a collective position, stated that "the 'Hwaseong-Osan' integration currently being discussed as an alternative is virtually meaningless," adding "this would produce only adverse effects rather than integration synergy benefits."

Additionally, the Dongtan New City Residential Complex Association held an extraordinary general meeting on the 13th at 5 p.m. to discuss integration-related matters. At the meeting, apart from an online survey, offline surveys were to be conducted by complex, with future implementation schedules to be discussed based on those results.

Previously, the Gibae Apartment Complex Association was the first in the Hwaseong area to hang banners supporting integration, pressuring the city and city council through movements to defeat local politicians whose voices diverge from public opinion and demands for administrative incorporation into Suwon.

As integration discussions intensify, local politicians are also stepping back, unlike their initial strong opposition. Park Gil-yang, a city council member representing the Taean and Dongtan areas (Democratic Party), initially cast an anti-merger vote but recently clarified, "I support integration, but the timing is not right."

● Suwon City's Expression of 'Integration Synergy Effects' Ignites Pro-Merger Opinion

Meanwhile, Suwon City expressed its stance on autonomous integration through official responses to resident complaints from these areas. In its response, Suwon City stated, "The integration of Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan cities is a great opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with world-renowned cities in the near future," and added, "However, not only the results of integration are important, but also minimizing conflicts between government and people, between citizens, and between local governments that could arise in the integration process."

In particular, Suwon emphasized that this would not be an absorption merger into Suwon City, as Hwaseong residents fear. It explained that citizens of Hwaseong and Osan would share in the superior infrastructure built across various sectors—education, administration, culture, environment, welfare, sports, and healthcare—and that significant financial investment would be directed to Hwaseong and Osan areas with insufficient basic infrastructure in the future.

Furthermore, Suwon noted that with incineration facilities, food waste treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, sanitary disposal facilities, and crematoriums already established, there would be no need to relocate or additionally install nuisance facilities in Hwaseong or Osan areas. Rather, integration could lead to preferential user rates for these facilities (for example, crematory fees reduced from 1 million won to 100,000 won) and reduced construction and operational costs, which could expand resident welfare.

Additionally, Suwon highlighted synergy effects from using 167.4 billion won in financial incentives provided by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety for development in Hwaseong and Osan areas, accelerating regional development, improving educational conditions, sharing various cultural, sports, and welfare facilities, establishing industrial clusters within the region, and reducing public transportation fares through transit connectivity.

Residents of Hwaseong's eastern region stated, "If the integrated city becomes the nation's largest metropolis with a population of 1.75 million and an area of 852 square kilometers, brand value will rise based on this scale," adding, "We hope for the birth of an integrated city that, like Paris or New York, can create tremendous value through city branding alone."