Gwangju completes the Seongnam-Hanam merger

It didn't take too long for Gwangju to join the Seongnam - Hanam party (see "Seongnam and Hanam merge").

For the missing and central piece of the puzzle, it was only a matter of "when"... and "how" to justify the flip-flop.

Officially, Gwangju authorities refused in the first place for a lack of consensus at the national level, but the Ministry of Public Administration and Security almost begged them to change their minds. And now, the former capital is eager to push for the merger, even initiating a poll for as early as this month.

Whatever... Seoul has now a significant giant at its doors : as we saw earlier, Gwangju + Seongnam + Hanam is as big as Seoul, claims about 1.3 M souls, and boasts major IT and cultural centers.

Bonus : now, the green spaces at the frontier between Seongnam and Hanam will not necessarily be destroyed.