Min Hyeong-bae, mayor of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, delivers remarks at a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Lee Jae-myung at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. [Cheong Wa Dae Press Photographers Pool] <Yonhap>
Min Hyeong-bae, mayor of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, delivers remarks at a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Lee Jae-myung at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. [Cheong Wa Dae Press Photographers Pool]

The Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City has asked the central government to expand its quota of Grade 1 and Grade 2 senior civil servants to match Seoul's staffing levels. The request has drawn skepticism, with critics arguing that aligning the city's senior headcount with Seoul's is unrealistic given the significant differences in population and scale.

The city recently called on the Ministry of Interior and Safety to increase its Grade 1 and Grade 2 civil servant positions to levels comparable to Seoul.

Mayor Min Hyeong-bae had also expressed support for expanding the Grade 1 and Grade 2 quotas before taking office.

The city currently operates with a mayor elevated to ministerial rank, four vice mayors at vice-ministerial rank, five Grade 1 officials and eight Grade 2 officials.

The structure reflects an upward revision of deputy and senior executive ranks in line with the city's elevated status.

Those figures are roughly half the eight Grade 1 and 20 Grade 2 positions at Seoul, and the city says an increase is needed.

The city argues that the merger of South Jeolla Province and Gwangju was not a simple administrative combination but an expansion of metropolitan functions, which warrants additional senior staffing.

However, questions have been raised about whether further increases are appropriate given that the organizational structure, including senior positions, has already been finalized.

Currently designated Grade 1 positions include the heads of the Public Safety, Industry and Economy bureaus, as well as the director of the free economic zone authority. Grade 2 positions cover the heads of the autonomous administration, health and welfare, transportation, culture, tourism, agriculture and fisheries, environment and forestry, and eastern regional bureaus, among others.

"Despite holding a status equivalent to Seoul, the city has fewer senior officials, and expanding the quota is necessary for stable organizational management," a city official said.


sij@heraldcorp.com