Gwangju City Council and Jeollanam-do Provincial Council Adopt Proposal on Administrative Integration of Jeollanam-do and Gwangju

by Song Bohyeon

Published 04 Feb.2026 13:17(KST)

Unanimous Approval in Gwangju, 52-to-1 Passage in Jeollanam-do

The Gwangju Metropolitan City Council and the Jeollanam-do Provincial Council each adopted a proposal presenting their opinions on the administrative integration of Jeollanam-do and Gwangju in their respective plenary sessions.

On the 4th, the two councils held plenary sessions, put the motion to hear opinions on the administrative integration to a vote, and passed it.

From the left: Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall and Jeonnam Provincial Office.

On this day, the Gwangju Metropolitan City Council and the Jeollanam-do Provincial Council held a vote for and against the administrative integration of Jeollanam-do and Gwangju, and passed the proposal presenting an opinion in favor of integration in their councils.

In the Gwangju Metropolitan City Council, all 22 council members present voted in favor, and the proposal was adopted unanimously. In the Jeollanam-do Provincial Council, 52 out of 53 members present voted in favor, with 1 abstention, and the motion was passed.

The current Local Autonomy Act stipulates that when changing the name or the jurisdictional area of a local government, the opinions of the relevant local councils must be heard or a local referendum must be held.

It had previously been decided, through a luncheon meeting between President Lee Jaemyung, the mayors and provincial governors, and local constituency members of the National Assembly, that the administrative integration of Jeollanam-do and Gwangju would be pursued by way of hearing the opinions of the city and provincial councils.

As the consent motions of the city and provincial councils were passed simultaneously, the integration procedures will move into full swing if a special act passes the National Assembly in February. After that, the plan is to elect the head of the integrated local government in the local elections in June and to launch the integrated local government on July 1.