Jeonnam-Gwangju merger costs estimated at nearly 41 billion won as separate state funding falls through
Administrative merger costs for Jeonnam-Gwangju are estimated at 40.988 billion won across 2026 and 2027, figures disclosed at a council audit showed. A proposed 17.3 billion won allocation in the government's supplementary budget was entirely cut by parliament's budget committee. Merger task force head Jeong So-ra said some costs were excluded and the total could rise; the merged administration believes it can cover the costs from general merger-support funding.