Min Hyungbae Transition Committee and Gwangju City Propose 'Midnight Plenary Session on July 1' to Special City Council

"Symbolic Significance of 91 Council Members and the Special Mayor Jointly Declaring the Launch of the New Local Government"

Work Begins Immediately After Inauguration Oath on July 1, Without a Large-Scale Launch Ceremony

At the very first moment of the launch of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City on July 1 at midnight, a plan is under consideration for the special mayor and all 91 city council members to gather together to declare the start of the new local government. It has been confirmed that the transition committee and Gwangju City have proposed to the council to hold the first plenary session of the Integrated Special City Council at midnight.

According to coverage by The Asia Business Daily and others on June 22, the transition committee of Min Hyungbae, the mayor-elect of Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, and Gwangju City recently conveyed to the council a plan to move up the opening time of the first plenary session of the first extraordinary meeting from the originally planned 7 a.m. to midnight.

On the 9th, members of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City Council held a commemorative photo session at the Jeonnam Yeongam-gun Hotel Hyundai Vira Han Mokpo during the meeting for elected council members. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Both Min's camp and Gwangju City reportedly agree on the necessity of holding the plenary session earlier, given that ordinances and regulations required for the operation of the council and the executive branch need to be processed immediately upon the launch of the Integrated Special City.

The transition committee also explained that there is symbolic significance in having the special mayor, council, and public officials together declare a new beginning at the exact moment of the city's launch.

A transition committee official said, "There is no legal problem with holding the plenary session at 7 a.m. as per usual practice," but added, "There is meaning in having the special mayor, the council, and the public sector jointly declare a new beginning at the exact time of the official launch of the Integrated Special City."

The official continued, "The Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City is a new local government that is being launched to address the era's task of region-led balanced development. The very scene of 91 special city council members, public officials, and the special mayor starting together at midnight, the launch time, is symbolic." They added, "This also conveys the intent to reduce conflict and maximize synergy by having everyone gathered together from the very first moment of the launch."

Park Namun, Secretary-General of Gwangju City Council, who has the authority to convene the first plenary session, plans to collect opinions from the elected members at the orientation for the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Council, which will be held at 2 p.m. on June 24 at the Kimdaejung Convention Center multipurpose hall in Gwangju, and then make a final decision on the opening time.

The first extraordinary session of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Council will be held from July 1 to July 2 in the main conference hall of the Jeonnam Provincial Council. At the first plenary session, the election of the chairperson, decision on the session period, election of the councilor to sign the minutes, voting on ordinances under the council's jurisdiction, voting on ordinance bills submitted by the mayor and superintendent of education, and the election of vice chairpersons are scheduled to take place.

At the second plenary session, which will be held the following day, the election of standing committee chairs will be conducted, followed by consultations on the organization of the standing committees and appointments of standing committee members, council operations committee members, special budget and accounts committee members, and special ethics committee members.

There is also a considerable amount of local legislation that must be processed immediately after the launch. The agenda consultative body has streamlined the number of ordinances and regulations under the council's jurisdiction from the original 55 to 34, while the number of ordinance bills submitted by the executive branch has been set at 233 for the special city and 63 for the Office of Education.

Meanwhile, the transition committee does not plan to hold a separate inauguration ceremony on July 1. Taking into account that the launch of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City is not simply a merger of existing metropolitan entities, but the establishment of a new local government, only the minimum procedures such as the inauguration oath of mayor-elect Min will be carried out before immediately starting work. The committee is considering holding a separate inauguration ceremony involving both city and provincial residents at a later date.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.