SUWON — Gyeonggi Province is beginning its first organizational overhaul under the new provincial administration, consolidating scattered policy functions and concentrating administrative capacity on core priorities.
The province said on the 20th that it had drawn up the reorganization plan and would open a public notice period for the proposed rules starting on the 21st.
Under the plan, the provincial government's headquarters will shift to 25 bureaus, five senior coordinator posts and 141 divisions, from the current 30 bureaus, five senior coordinator posts and 151 divisions.
A new Finance Planning Bureau will be created to oversee fiscal functions in response to budget pressures. Revenue forecasting, budget drafting and public property management, which had been spread across separate units, will be handled by a single organization to improve the efficiency of fiscal operations.
The transport portfolio faces a sweeping change. The Transport Bureau, the Railway, Port and Logistics Bureau and the Gyeonggi International Airport Task Force will be merged and elevated into a Transport Innovation Office. The province said the move would strengthen links among rail, road, port and airport networks and improve coordination of metropolitan transport policy.
Economic and industrial units will be combined into an Economy and Industry Office. The province plans to build policy around two pillars — the everyday economy and semiconductors and advanced industries — to improve coherence among economic policies and sharpen responses on the ground. A new Semiconductor and Advanced Industry Planning Office will be dedicated to fostering the chip industry.
Units handling policy for northern Gyeonggi and areas near the inter-Korean border will also be restructured. The Balanced Development Planning Office, the Peace Cooperation Bureau and the Gyeonggi North Special Self-Governing Province Task Force will be merged into a Peace and Balanced Development Planning Office. The province said linking balanced development, peace cooperation and border-area support would improve its handling of issues in the northeastern part of the province.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Life Sciences Bureau and the Livestock and Animal Welfare Bureau will be combined into an Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Bureau. The change is intended to connect production, distribution and safety policies and respond comprehensively to needs in farming, livestock and fisheries.
The Urban and Housing Office and the Urban Development Bureau will be reorganized into an Urban Planning Bureau and a Housing Policy Bureau. The focus is on clarifying responsibility for spatial planning, housing, building sites and urban redevelopment to deepen expertise in each area.
A new Fair Economy and Society Bureau will bring together fair-trade policy, special judicial police functions, collection of unpaid taxes and administrative appeals. The province said the unit would help establish fair economic order and strengthen remedies for residents' rights.
Policy for young adults and adolescents will also be adjusted. The Future and Lifelong Education Bureau will be reorganized into a Future Generations Bureau, bringing support for the growth and independence of young adults and adolescents under a single goal and building a system that responds to policy needs at each life stage.
The Labor Bureau will become the Labor and Industrial Safety Bureau, a step aimed at strengthening safety and protection of rights at workplaces and reinforcing the response system for industrial safety.
"This reorganization focuses on sorting out overlapping and duplicated functions to lower barriers between units and to clarify roles and responsibilities," said Jung Doo-seok, head of the provincial Planning and Coordination Office. "We will concentrate the capacity gained through consolidation on core future fields and turn it into results that residents can feel."
The public notice period runs from the 21st to the 26th. The province will then gather opinions from the provincial council, labor unions and other groups before finalizing the plan through deliberation and a vote by the Gyeonggi Provincial Council.