Last October, controversy arose over the proposal to integrate Gimpo City as part of Seoul City. The discussion about integrating Gimpo into Seoul City was first raised in 1995 but was dispersed due to practical difficulties. However, in October, the debate reignited when Gimpo City Mayor Kim Byung-soo mentioned the idea of Seoul’s integration as a stance against the integration of Gimpo City into the Gyeonggi Northern Special Self-Governing Province. This move prompted neighboring municipalities, such as Goyang and Guri City, to also demand an integration with Seoul, which further intensified the controversy. In response to the growing opposition, Gimpo City has announced that citizen forums and public votes will be conducted to gauge resident’s opinions about the integration. However, the Gyeonggi Province government, which is currently processing the establishment of the Gyeonggi Northern Special Self-Governing Province, expressed that the Gimpo integration controversy is preposterous. On October 27th, Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon mentioned in a radio program that, “Gimpo’s integration with Seoul City is not a matter to discuss at the moment.” Meanwhile, according to a nationwide poll conducted by RealMeter on November 1st, 58.6% of Gimpo respondents opposed the integration, while only 31.5% agreed, indicating that the opposition side is more dominant. As such, Seoul City stated that the official standpoint of Seoul will be announced after further discussion with Gimpo City and the other municipalities, anticipating that the debate will continue.