A trip to Korea's newest city
Earlier this summer, I took a short out-of-town trip to Gwangju, only to discover that a week before I arrived, the city had been disbanded and was no more! Officially launched on July 1st this year, Korea’s newest city is one of its largest by land area: South Jeolla Province and Gwangju Metropolitan City have merged to form Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City. The city government of…
Last summer, I embarked on a brief journey to Gwangju, only to learn that just a week prior to my arrival, the city had been dissolved and no longer existed. On July 1st of this year, Korea unveiled its newest city, marking one of the largest in terms of land area. The amalgamation of South Jeolla Province and Gwangju Metropolitan City gave rise to Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City.
Although the city government of Gwangju ceased to exist, the individual districts were retained within the new political framework. Smaller cities within the former province, alongside counties, continued to bear their original titles. The newly established special city comprises five districts, five cities, and 17 counties. The municipalities of Yeosu, Mokpo, Suncheon, Gwangyang, and Naju maintained their city designations.
The administrative structure may undergo revisions as the merger matures and population redistributions occur. I suspect that the English rendition of the city's name is still under development. I have encountered alternative spellings, such as "Gwangju Special City" (which could potentially incite resentment from other regions) and the literal translation of the name.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- A trip to Korea's newest city koreatimes.co.kr
