Following Uiwang City, Anyang City and Gunpo City have also met the signature requirements for the merger of the three cities (Anyang, Gunpo, and Uiwang).
As a result, these local governments are expected to submit merger petitions to Gyeonggi Province in the coming days, increasing the likelihood that a residents' referendum on the three-city merger will be held.
According to Anyang City and Gunpo City on the 20th, upon verification of the residents' petition signatures submitted by the Three-City Merger Promotion Committee, both cities were found to have exceeded the signature threshold.
In the case of Anyang City, following an examination of the residents' petition signatures (45,347 people) submitted by the Merger Promotion Committee, approximately 30,000 or more signatures were confirmed as valid. The valid resident population for Anyang City's merger petition is 9,637 people.
A city official stated, "The number of residents' signatures for the merger has met the standard. We plan to announce the exact number of residents' signatures this afternoon or tomorrow" and "We plan to submit three merger petitions from residents, the city council, and the city mayor to Gyeonggi Province by next week."
The City Council will hold the 7th plenary session of the 2nd regular session of the 184th session on the 21st to pass a resolution on the merger of the three cities and submit a merger petition to Gyeonggi Province.
Gunpo City, following a first review of the signature list, confirmed that 10,141 people, representing 83.2% of the initially submitted 12,188 residents' signatures, are valid. The valid resident population for Gunpo City's merger petition is 4,396 people.
A city official stated, "We are currently conducting a final verification of valid signatures through computer inquiry for those confirmed by the resident service centers," and "We understand that typically 15-20% are invalidated in this process. Even accounting for this, approximately 7,000 to 8,000 signatures are expected to be valid."
The city plans to submit the merger petition to Gyeonggi Province around the 27th if the number of valid signatures meets the standard.
Uiwang City also announced on the 2nd that the number of valid signatures met the merger petition standard and plans to submit the petition to Gyeonggi Province on the 23rd.
Upon verification of the 7,051 residents' petition signatures submitted by Uiwang City's Merger Promotion Committee, 3,509 valid signatures were confirmed after excluding 3,534 invalid signatures including duplicates, exceeding the valid resident population requirement of 2,281 people for the merger petition.
As a result, all three cities in the Anyang region have exceeded the signature threshold, and petitions to Gyeonggi Province are expected to be submitted between the 23rd and 27th.
Gyeonggi Province will attach provincial opinions and submit the merger petition to the Presidential Committee on Local Administrative System Reform once the petition is received.
The Minister of the Interior and Safety will recommend merger to local governments that have submitted merger petitions from June next year, and will decide on the merger after holding local council opinion hearings or conducting a residents' referendum by June 2013. The merged city is scheduled to be launched in July 2014.