Gwangju lawmakers push for parallel renovation of both assembly halls

A dispute over the main headquarters of the South Jeolla-Gwangju Special Metropolitan city has spilled over into the integrated assembly, where a tug-of-war over institutional dominance is now playing out.

Lawmakers representing Gwangju constituencies in the South Jeolla-Gwangju Special Metropolitan Assembly said the Gwangju office's main chamber should be renovated at the same time as any remodeling of the South Jeolla office's chamber.

The Gwangju-area lawmakers met Tuesday afternoon to discuss the planned renovation of the South Jeolla office's main chamber and the assembly's future operational arrangements.

After sharing individual views, they agreed on a common position: if renovation of the South Jeolla chamber goes ahead, the Gwangju chamber must be renovated simultaneously.

The Gwangju lawmakers said they would convey this position to Assembly Speaker Song Hyeong-gon and Operations Committee Chair Shin Min-ho.

They warned that proceeding with renovations at the South Jeolla office alone — before the assembly's main headquarters has been officially designated — could invite accusations of duplicate investment or budget waste when the time comes to upgrade the Gwangju chamber, potentially stalling that project altogether.

They also argued that because the special city rotates operations across the Gwangju, Muan and eastern offices, and because the speaker and standing committee chairs move between both buildings, the assembly should have fully equipped facilities at the Gwangju office to hold plenary sessions and conduct major legislative activities there as well.

"There has never been any agreement among lawmakers to designate the South Jeolla office as the assembly's main headquarters or to concentrate assembly functions in Muan," one Gwangju-area lawmaker said. "We held plenary sessions at the South Jeolla office in the early days because of practical circumstances, but going forward both offices need to be operated in a balanced way."

Earlier, the assembly's speaker and operations committee chair had set a policy of prioritizing the South Jeolla chamber renovation in order to meet the schedule for the regular session on Sept. 14.

Speaker Song said that given budget and space constraints, the assembly would ultimately have no choice but to concentrate its functions at the South Jeolla office over the long term.

Operations Committee Chair Shin proposed spending 738 million won ($495,000) to renovate the South Jeolla chamber first.

The Gwangju-area lawmakers' pushback against that plan has brought tensions between Gwangju and South Jeolla representatives in the integrated assembly into the open.