Gwangju for "Planning," Muan for "Administration," Eastern Region for "Industry"... Organizational Outline of Integrated Special City Revealed

New 'Semiconductor Office' Directly Under the Mayor to Oversee Honam Semiconductor Cluster
Restructuring to 4 Bureaus, 8 Headquarters, and 27 Divisions
Eastern Building Gains 9 Additional Departments

Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City has unveiled a blueprint for a decentralized operating system centered around three government buildings. Gwangju will be responsible for municipal planning, Muan will handle finance and administration, and the Eastern region will focus on industry and investment. A new organization directly under the mayor will also be established to oversee semiconductor policy.

According to Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City on August 18, the city will announce its first organizational restructuring plan this week, outlining the functions and organizational structure of the Gwangju, Muan, and Eastern government buildings prior to the legislative notice.

Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City.

The plan emphasizes distributing key functions across the three regions to prevent the concentration of authority in a single building, even after integration. The Gwangju building will oversee political affairs, planning, and policy work; the Muan building will manage finance, balanced development, agriculture and fisheries, and large-scale administrative affairs. The Eastern building will be developed as a hub dedicated to industry and investment.

This approach is also reflected in the number of departments. The Gwangju building will house 67 departments, the Muan building 56, and the Eastern building 21. Compared to the current structure, both Gwangju and Muan will each see the number of departments decrease by two, while the Eastern building will gain nine additional departments.

The four deputy mayors will also work in separate buildings according to their respective areas of responsibility. The system includes two central government officials and two local government officials. The Vice Mayor for Administrative and Security Affairs (tentative title) will be based at the Gwangju building. The Vice Mayor for Balanced Development and the Vice Mayor for Basic Social Affairs will be located at the Muan building, while the Vice Mayor for Industrial Economy will be based at the Eastern building.

A dedicated command system will be established for the semiconductor field. The city will create a Semiconductor Office, headed by a first-level director reporting directly to the mayor, and a Semiconductor Industry Policy Officer under that office. The current third-level director-led temporary organization, the Semiconductor Industry Support Team, will be expanded and tasked with managing the creation of the Honam Semiconductor Cluster.

The restructuring plan also includes consolidating industrial functions—currently dispersed among AI, semiconductors, and energy—around semiconductors. The plan also calls for the establishment of a Municipal Situation Room and a Task Force for the Establishment of Investment Institutions.

After this restructuring, the organization of the special city will consist of 4 bureaus, 8 headquarters, 27 divisions, 144 departments, and multiple offices of chiefs. First-level officials will serve as bureau chiefs, second-level officials as headquarters chiefs, and third-level officials as division managers. This represents an increase of one headquarters, three divisions, and five departments or chief offices compared to the temporary organization activated immediately after integration on July 1.

On August 14, Gwangju Special City shared the restructuring plan with the city council through a policy meeting held at the Muan government building of the special city council. The proposal was prepared over the past month in consultation with the civil servants’ union and other stakeholders.

After the legislative notice, the city will finalize the organizational plan by gathering feedback from civil servants, the city council, and other parties. Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City has requested the council to convene a special session within the month to process the revised ordinance for adjusting organizational structure and staff size.

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