Interior ministry adds integrated special city to local public enterprise law

South Korea's interior ministry on Tuesday promulgated a partial revision to the Local Public Enterprises Act that adds an integrated special city and its mayor to provisions that previously referred only to special cities and special city mayors, the ministry said.

The revision took effect on the day it was promulgated, Oct. 20, under its supplementary provisions. President Lee Jae-myung signed the legislation, which was passed by the National Assembly and registered as Law No. 22077.

The amendment follows the launch of the integrated city itself. Government press releases dated Oct. 16-19 already use "Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City" as the current administrative name, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's reference to a "mid-sized company located in Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City," the interior ministry's reference to "Suncheon City, Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City," and the Korea Heritage Service's references to "Yeongam County, Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City" and the "Mokpo Office of Education, Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City."

Spelling of the new city's name is not yet uniform. The legal revision text writes "Gwangju-Jeonnam Integrated Special City," while government ministry press releases use "Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City," reversing the order of the two component regions.

The legislation was handled by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.