President Lee Jae-myung described the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, which officially launched Monday, as "a starting signal for locally led growth that will change the nation's future, and a national survival strategy for South Korea that must succeed for the country to make a great leap forward."
In a video congratulatory message posted on X, formerly Twitter, the same day, Lee said, "Today we begin a great voyage that will write a new history of balanced national development." He added, "The integration of Jeonnam and Gwangju is not merely about merging administrative districts."
Lee stressed that the Jeonnam-Gwangju integration is "the first departure of a bold challenge to realign the priorities of state administration around the regions, to completely redeploy the government's resources and capabilities, and to redraw South Korea's growth map."
Addressing the citizens of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, he said, "You have made the decision to turn the crisis of extinction into an opportunity for growth through the power of cooperation and solidarity rather than competition." He continued, "Our government will provide firm support so that this great decision can be remembered as a new milestone of leaping forward and growth."
He emphasized that the government would spare no support at the national level for regional development. "We will concentrate national capabilities so that it can soar powerfully as a mega-regional city with global competitiveness, serving as a hub for advanced future industries and global culture and tourism," Lee promised. He also said, "We will spare no all-out support so that the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City can rise as the key pillar driving the development of the southern region."
"Today's integration is not an end but a new beginning," he said emphatically. "The integration will only be completed when we connect the hearts of citizens as one and draw the future together." He added, "We will do our best to the end so that today's integration can lead to a better life for each and every citizen."
