In the paper there was more talk about merging some cities. Of local interest, Muan and Mokpo, and Suncheon, Yeosu, and Gwangyang. Regarding the former combination, as I've mentioned before the Namak New City project, which is the relocation of the Jeollanam-do capital from Gwangju to a village in Namak-ri, aims to have a new city with a population of about 150,000 in ten years. Many of those people would, presumably, come from nearby Mokpo.
I first wrote about the Suncheon, Yeosu, and Gwangyang merger back in October, 2007. It would create a new city with an area larger than Busan and Ulsan combined, but with a population of only about 720,000. It was supposed to happen, and the citizens approved it, but I literally haven't heard a thing about it since then. And I've written about other realignment proposals here, including a discussion to merge Gangjin, Jangheung, and Yeongam counties. I guess you don't really need all those administrative divisions in a country as small as Korea, and it's not like these divisions aren't realigned, like, every decade anyway. But still, they're gonna have to buy all new stationary.
2 comments:
I don't like all these city mergers. It has a tendency to dilute local citizens' political say when they're part of a larger amalgam. I think it also has the potential to undermine local civic pride.
Some years ago there was a plan to eliminate all metropolitan cities and provinces and counties and cities in favor of making some sixty prefecture-like entities. This was aimed at reducing regionalism, since Cholla, Kyongsang, etc., would be no more. This is the main reason the license plates no longer have metro/provincial markers.
Re Suncheon, Yeosu, and Gwangyang. It won't happen unless the decision gets handed down from Seoul. No way all those (excess if a merger happened) councilors wound give up their jobs. That's probably why it never happened.
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