Will Hyangnam and Bongdam's "100,000 Residents" Districts Be Reorganized? Hwaseong Launches Resident Deliberation Process

Hwaseong City Launches Administrative District Reorganization for Hyangnam and Bongdam
From Feasibility to Future Direction: Exploring All Aspects of the Reorganization
Resident Opinion Collection Group Formed to Shape the Plan

Discussions on the reorganization of administrative districts in Hyangnam-eup and Bongdam-eup, Hwaseong Special City, Gyeonggi Province, have entered full swing as the "Era of 100,000 Residents" begins. With increasing calls to improve the administrative system to cope with surging administrative demand triggered by rapid population growth, Hwaseong City has decided to determine the direction of the reorganization through a deliberative process with direct resident participation, rather than drawing a unilateral conclusion.

A view of Hwaseong Special City Hall. Provided by Hwaseong City

On July 16, Hwaseong Special City announced it would form a “Resident Opinion Collection Group for Administrative District Reorganization” to discuss whether and how to reorganize the administrative boundaries of Hyangnam-eup and Bongdam-eup.

The populations of Hyangnam-eup and Bongdam-eup have grown to 101,000 and 115,000, respectively—far exceeding the legal standard for establishing an “eup,” which is 20,000 residents, by more than fivefold. As urbanization progresses and the scope of daily living expands, demand for administrative services has rapidly increased. Consequently, the need to reorganize administrative districts in order to enhance residents’ accessibility and administrative efficiency has been continuously raised.

In fact, there have been previous cases where cities have divided or reorganized administrative districts in response to population increases, such as Suji-eup in Yongin and Jangyu-myeon in Gimhae.

Hwaseong City emphasizes the significance of pursuing this discussion in a resident-participatory manner. Rather than simply asking residents to express for or against opinions about the reorganization, residents will be able to directly debate and present their views on what methods would be most appropriate, should reorganization be deemed necessary.

The Resident Opinion Collection Group will be publicly recruited from among the residents of Hyangnam-eup and Bongdam-eup. Each eup will have a group of 30 to 50 members. The group will be composed to ensure representativeness, considering gender, age, and regional balance, as well as participation from community leaders, social organizations, the business and industrial sectors, the education and youth sectors, and various experts.

Applications for participation will be accepted at the administrative welfare centers of each eup—until July 20 for Hyangnam-eup and until July 24 for Bongdam-eup.

Meetings will be held in each region between one and three times during August. External experts will host the sessions, providing explanations on the administrative district reorganization system, domestic precedents, and anticipated benefits and concerns. Afterwards, there will be sufficient discussion to gather opinions on whether and how to proceed with reorganization.

Based on the results from the Resident Opinion Collection Group, the city will prepare a reorganization plan and conduct additional procedures to solicit feedback, such as resident briefings and surveys. This will be followed by a factual survey that comprehensively reflects administrative needs and resident opinions, after which related administrative procedures—including obtaining approval from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety—will be pursued.

An official from Hwaseong Special City stated, “Because administrative district reorganization directly impacts citizens’ daily lives, it is paramount that sufficient discussion and consensus-building with residents is conducted, rather than the administration making unilateral decisions. We encourage active interest and participation so that a wide range of citizen opinions can be fully reflected through the Resident Opinion Collection Group.”

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