Gwangju Metropolitan City and South Jeolla Province on Thursday gave advance public notice of draft municipal regulations that will serve as the legal foundation for the administrative structure of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City.
The draft regulations include ordinances and rules governing the establishment of administrative bodies for the integrated special city.
Reflecting the Special Act on the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integration, the framework introduces a four-deputy-mayor system, with each post at the vice minister level. Two will be national civil servants in political appointment positions and two will be local civil servants in political appointment positions, covering the portfolios of general administration, public safety and livelihoods, culture and industry, and economy and agriculture.
The administrative deputy mayor will oversee planning and coordination, integration promotion, local administration, human rights, and education and youth affairs. The public safety and livelihoods deputy mayor will handle areas closely tied to residents' daily lives, including disaster safety, welfare, transportation, urban affairs and the integrated airport.
The culture and industry deputy mayor will be responsible for future industries, culture, sports and tourism, while the economy and agriculture deputy mayor will cover the economy, employment, fisheries and agriculture, and environment and forestry.
To streamline operations, the command structure for division and bureau chiefs in some departments will be unified. Functions previously handled separately by Gwangju and South Jeolla Province — including planning and coordination, industry, public safety, economy, local administration, culture, health and welfare, and fisheries and agriculture — will be consolidated under single division or bureau chiefs.
The draft also incorporates Ministry of Interior and Safety guidelines on organizational structure and staffing.
Specific provisions include the creation of senior Grade 1 and Grade 2 positions, a four-year temporary placement of Grade 3 coordinators, the consolidation of audit committees, and the integration of fire department organizations.
Under the draft, the integrated special city's inaugural structure — set to launch July 1 — will consist of 4 offices, 7 bureaus, 24 divisions, 139 sections and coordinators, 38 directly affiliated agencies, 1 regional bureau, 30 project offices, 1 branch office and 3 deliberative administrative bodies.
Gwangju and South Jeolla Province plan to work with the integrated city mayor's transition committee to swiftly draw up a second round of organizational reforms that comprehensively reflects campaign pledges, the city's governance vision, and input from residents and the city council.
The full text of the draft regulations is available on the websites of Gwangju Metropolitan City and South Jeolla Province. The two governments will carefully review submitted opinions before completing follow-up procedures — including ordinance deliberation and council approval — with the aim of putting the regulations into effect on July 1.
Ko Gwang-wan, Gwangju's administrative deputy mayor, said the initial organizational plan for the integrated special city focuses on clarifying the chain of command in the early stages of integration through the unification of division and bureau chief roles, while incorporating Ministry of Interior and Safety guidelines to prevent administrative gaps.
sij@heraldcorp.com
