Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Ruling party's mega city idea spreads nationwide
Seoul city skyline / gettyimagesbank
By Nam Hyun-woo
City expansion plan emerges as biggest political agenda before general elections
The ruling People Power Party’s (PPP) idea of expanding Seoul’s boundaries by including Gimpo and other adjacent cities into the capital is triggering other large cities to float similar ideas, emerging as one of the biggest polictical issues before the general elections slated for April next year.
On Friday, North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo of the PPP proposed via Facebook that relevant authorities discuss the feasibility of a merger between the provinces of Chungcheong, Jeolla and Gyeongsang with the cities of Busan and Daegu.
“In order to avoid straw effects of Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province and balanced development between regions, we need to expand regional cities so that they can have perfect educational, cultural, medical and transportation infrastructure,” Lee wrote.
Straw effect refers to a situation in which smaller cities’ commercial and service functions are absorbed by nearby metropolitan areas following the development of transportation routes.
PPP Rep. Park Soo-young from Busan also wrote on Facebook that “Busan also wants to be a mega city,” and the city’s size and population should be increased in order to function as a world renowned city.
PPP Rep. Cho Kyoung-tae, who is heading the PPP’s special committee on mega cities, also said in an interview with Newsis that he also wants to expand the idea to Busan, Daegu and Chungcheong provinces, citing Busan’s declining population.
Cho also said Daejeon could consider absorbing nearby cities such as Gongju and Sejong, while Gwangju could merge with nearby Naju.
The talks came after the PPP’s leadership floated the idea of merging Gimpo and other Gyeonggi Province cities into Seoul, in what appears to be an effort to shore up voter support before the upcoming general elections.
The city of Gimpo has been arguing that its incorporation will help alleviate the highly congested roads and subways connecting the two cities by tapping into the capital's resources for upgrades.
A banner welcomes the idea of including the city of Gimpo into Seoul hangs at a community meeting in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, Saturday. Yonhap
Against this backdrop, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Gimpo Mayor Kim Byung-soo, both from the PPP, will meet at Seoul City Hall on Monday on the request of the latter. Kim is anticipated to make an official suggestion for Gimpo’s inclusion into Seoul during the meeting.
The Seoul mayor said on Nov. 1 that the matter should be handled “cautiously” but the city reportedly has been reviewing various scenarios for Gimpo’s inclusion.
In contrast, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is refraining from making comments on this issue, in an apparent consideration of possible backlash before the general elections.
Although the party’s leadership has yet to express a clear stance on the matter, Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon opposed the inclusion, describing the idea as “a scam” and “a gerrymandering attempt.”
Map of Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province cities
Aside from the debates, chances are slim for the Mega Seoul idea to become reality within the term of the current 21st National Assembly, which will end in May next year, given the administrative processes. Since the majority-holding DPK is inclining toward opposing Gimpo’s inclusion of Seoul, it is considered to be difficult for the PPP to see related law revisions to pass the Assembly.
This means that the large cities’ expansion issue will likely become a subject of conflict between rival parties during the upcoming election campaign period, as it had been so during the past nationwide elections.
During last year’s presidential and local elections, the idea of forming “a mega city of Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province” became a talking point of the region.
The idea was first floated by former DPK South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kyoung-soo in 2020 and secured its legal ground following a 2021 law revision. With then-DPK presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung ― the current DPK chairman ― endorsing the idea, “a special alliance” between the three regions officially launched in April 2022, during the previous Moon Jae-in administration from the DPK.
Just two months later, however, the plan underwent a full-scale review after candidates from the PPP won the local elections both in South Gyeongsnag Province and Ulsan. As a result, the alliance was disbanded in October last year and the plan was completely scrapped in February this year.
The DPK’s Busan chapter said in a press conference on Friday that “the PPP will face a strong backlash from the people if it pushes ahead with a plan to enlarge Seoul after ditching the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang mega city plan."
“Compared to foreign capitals, it is true that Seoul’s size is small,” said Park Sang-byeong, a professor at Inha University's Graduate School of Policy Science. “But this has to go together with establishing mega cities in other regions, such as Busan, Gyeongsang Provinces and Jeolla Provinces.”
To address overpopulation and centralization, the U.K. established the administrative area of Greater London, comprised of 32 city boroughs and the city of London, and France is running a metropolitan administrative area of Grand Paris to cover the city's surrounding suburbs.
“Candidates for the general elections should contain their ideas and plans on establishing mega cities in their region, and have the people assess that with votes,” Park said. “Since this is not an issue of one or two years, both politicians and voters should approach this issue from a long-term perspective.”