With the official launch of the Jeollanam-Gwangju Integrated Special City on Tuesday, regional development bonds previously issued separately by Gwangju Metropolitan City and South Jeolla Province will now be consolidated under a single unified standard.
Regional development bonds are instruments that residents must purchase in a set amount when registering a vehicle or entering into licensing, construction, service or supply contracts with local governments. Purchase and exemption criteria for the unified bonds have been codified by ordinance, applying whichever standard is more favorable to residents of either former jurisdiction to ensure no one is disadvantaged by the merger.
In the Gwangju area, the South Jeolla Province standard has been adopted, reinstating a partial exemption for hybrid vehicles and lowering the bond purchase rate for vehicle transfer registrations from 4–6 percent to 3–5 percent. In the South Jeolla Province area, the Gwangju standard has been applied, cutting the bond purchase rate for new vehicle registrations from 6–10 percent to 4–5 percent.
The obligation to purchase bonds for new and transfer registrations of leased vehicles will be temporarily waived through Dec. 31, 2027.
sij@heraldcorp.com
