TK's administrative integration is over."Seoul's status was born in 'Special City'".

Daegu-Gyeongbuk Administrative Integration as a 'special city' with Seoul status
Maintaining the office authority of the basic organization, the special city's general management and coordination
"The process of collecting opinions is with the consent of the parliament instead of a referendum."

[Anchor]
Daegu Metropolitan City and Gyeongsangbuk-do will be integrated into Daegu Gyeongbuk Special City, which has the same status as Seoul after twists and turns.

The government, Daegu City, and Gyeongsangbuk-do plan to listen to the opinions of the city and provincial councils and pass a special law to launch an integrated special city in July 2026.

Reporter Lee Yun-jae reports.

[Reporter]
Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min, Chairman of the Local Times Committee Woo Dong-ki, Mayor of Daegu Hong Joon Pyo, and Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do Lee Chul-woo joined hands.

In July 2026, we agreed to integrate Daegu Metropolitan City and Gyeongsangbuk-do to create a special city with the same status as Seoul.

It has been five months since administrative integration first began to be discussed.

Discussions were suspended after confronting the office authority of the basic organization, but they gathered their will after the mediation of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.

[Lee Sang-min / Minister of Public Administration and Security: (Agreement) Daegu Metropolitan City and Gyeongsangbuk-do Province have carefully considered for win-win development and future growth engines in both regions, and completed it through consultation and coordination]The office authority of the basic organization, which was a

issue, will be maintained as it is now, but the special city will oversee, coordinate, and execute it.

It also included in the agreement that it will actively promote balanced regional development and utilize existing government buildings in Daegu, Andong, and Pohang.

In principle, the process of collecting opinions was decided to listen to local council opinions instead of a referendum.

The heads of the two local governments congratulated themselves, saying that it would be an opportunity for local administrative reform and decentralization to be realized.

[Hong Joon Pyo / Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City: The Republic of Korea has maintained its system for the past 100 years, but I don't think there is a reform that can bring about such a huge change as a local administrative reform.]

[Lee Chul-woo / Governor of North Gyeongsang Province] We need to find a new way together. That's what I thought. We need to decentralize the centralized system and then (change) the one-pole system in the metropolitan area for balanced development. So there are two things. Decentralization and Balanced Development.]

However, there are many tasks that require detailed adjustments, such as adjusting the special city authority, which is in the form of a rooftop, so that it does not overlap with the city and county, and distinguishing the roles of the vice mayor.

The government plans to set up a pan-governmental consultative body to come up with specific support measures when the integration plan between Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province comes out.

I'm YTN Lee Yunjae.

Photographer: Jeon Ki-ho