Debate over where to locate the main office of the planned Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City has been simmering for months, but a new remark by mayor-elect Min Hyeong-bae — that he could work full-time from the South Jeolla Province government building in Muan-gun — has stoked fresh controversy.
Min made the comment Tuesday at a post-election briefing for western-region candidates held at the Bitgaram Complex Culture and Sports Center in Naju, after Muan-gun county chief-elect Kim San urged him to designate the Muan office as the special city's main headquarters.
According to Muan-gun, Min said he was open to basing himself at the Muan office full-time if the southwestern region wanted that arrangement, and to keeping core administrative functions — including planning, personnel and budgeting — there as well. He added that he was willing to follow whatever office-function allocation plan southwestern politicians agreed on and brought to him.
The controversy stems from Min's earlier announcement that he intended to place the main office at the South Jeolla Province eastern branch in Suncheon, a move that drew sharp pushback from the southwestern region.
As the dispute intensified, Min said he would make balanced use of all three offices — in Gwangju, Muan-gun and Suncheon. Public sentiment in the affected areas, however, remains unsettled.
Min's transition committee said his fundamental principle, in line with the special city law, is to operate the three offices in Muan-gun, the eastern region and Gwangju on an equal footing, treating all three as main headquarters. It added that the final plan for allocating functions across the offices would be determined after review by the transition team, consultation with the city council and a public opinion-gathering process. The committee also expressed strong regret over what it described as some political figures distorting the mayor-elect's basic position and distributing press releases based on that misrepresentation.
sij@heraldcorp.com
