Gyeongbuk Province Launches Study on Follow-Up Tasks for Daegu-Gyeongbuk Administrative Integration: "Establishing a New Growth Axis in the Southern Region"

On June 14, the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office announced that it will conduct a "Research Project on Supplementary Tasks Related to the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Administrative Integration" to support the stable discussion of the "Daegu-Gyeongbuk Administrative Integration Special Act," which is currently pending in the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, as well as preparations for its future implementation.

This research is a follow-up task under the "preliminary action–subsequent supplementation" schedule, assuming the passage of the Special Act. It aims to proactively examine constitutional, institutional, and practical issues that may arise during the National Assembly's review and subsequent implementation process. The Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office plans to identify and organize anticipated issues during the parliamentary discussions and supplementary tasks needed after implementation in advance, thereby enhancing the stability and effectiveness of the administrative integration.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office

On June 12, the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office held a kick-off meeting for the research project. The meeting was attended by about 10 related staff members from the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office, as well as Kim Suyeon, professor at Jeju National University, and Lee Kwonil, professor at Kyungpook National University, who are in charge of the project.

The Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office has requested that, by the end of September, the research agency conduct an analysis of constitutional issues related to the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Administrative Integration Special Act, review key provisions of the Act, identify supplementary tasks for each major issue, and carry out comparative analyses with other provinces and international cases of administrative integration.

The Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office regards administrative integration not simply as a redrawing of administrative boundaries, but as a task to mitigate the dominance of the Seoul metropolitan area, establish a new growth axis in the southern region, and create a substantive model for balanced national development in Korea. In particular, it emphasized that, for the government's "Five Poles and Three Special Zones" balanced growth strategy to yield tangible results, a stable, super-regional integration model at the Daegu-Gyeongbuk level must be established, underscoring the national significance of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk administrative integration.

In addition, the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office stated that concerns from some areas within the province are not a reason to halt the integration, but rather issues that need to be examined and addressed to ensure a proper integration. Since both the Daegu City Council and the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council have already officially expressed their support for the integration, Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office plans to further strengthen mechanisms to ensure public acceptance and balanced regional development on this procedural basis, thereby solidifying the legitimacy and increasing the feasibility of the integration.

The research will be conducted by the Korean Constitutional Law Association and will include in-depth analysis of major legal issues such as the relationship between local autonomy and administrative integration, procedures for resident participation including referendums, and the constitutional standards and scope for the allocation of authority between central and local governments.

Furthermore, the study will examine constitutional issues arising from the reorganization of administrative systems, the legal validity of financial special cases and authority transfers, measures to secure stability in the succession of organizations, personnel, and assets, and institutional challenges related to the timing of integration and adjustments to local council and election schedules. It will also develop response strategies for issues that may arise during parliamentary discussions and analyze cases of large-scale administrative integration in other provinces and overseas to draw policy implications.

Lee Cheolwoo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, stated, "The Daegu-Gyeongbuk administrative integration is the key to overcoming the dominance of the Seoul metropolitan area and to making the government's 'Five Poles and Three Special Zones' balanced growth strategy a success."

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