▲ Gyeonggi Governor-elect Choo Mi-ae presiding over a meeting
Gyeonggi Governor-elect Choo Mi-ae and her transition committee are focusing on devising countermeasures, including large-scale expenditure restructuring, as they continue to raise concerns over the province's severe fiscal crisis.
During the second meeting on provincial policy issues held by the transition committee, Governor-elect Choo stated, "With Gyeonggi Province's finances in a critical state, the creation of new organizational units must be reviewed with caution."
According to the 'Fair, Innovative, and Inclusive Gyeonggi Preparation Committee' on June 23, Choo instructed the committee during the meeting to "proceed with organizational restructuring based on a diagnostic assessment driven by AI-based administrative innovation, but postpone the creation of any new units and make decisions based on the results of the assessment later."
In this meeting, which covered safety and fairness, Choo emphasized the prevention of relationship-based crimes and support for victims. She also tasked the transition committee with strengthening fire prevention systems and developing plans to minimize the use of fire-vulnerable construction materials.
Highlighting fairness as a core principle of her provincial administration, she also stressed the need for legal amendments and institutional improvements to increase efficiency, such as introducing an integrated reporting channel (Gyeonggi Fairness Ombudsman) and enabling the simultaneous collection of national and local tax arrears at the site of tax collection.
During the first meeting on provincial policy issues held yesterday, Governor-elect Choo also demanded that the transition committee develop realistic plans for implementing campaign pledges, noting that "Gyeonggi Province's fiscal situation is on the verge of collapse."
She further ordered a clear analysis of the causes that led to the province's fiscal collapse and the decision-making processes at the time.
The meeting yesterday focused on finance, transportation, and youth/housing. Regarding transportation, Choo stated, "We must adopt the philosophy that mobility is a fundamental right," adding, "Let us proactively propose the introduction of the 'Capital Region One-Pass,' a core transportation pledge, to the heads of other metropolitan governments in the capital region."
She also ordered the expansion of new routes for the 'Gyeonggi Pyeonha-G Bus' (a transportation service in the form of a subscription pass using chartered buses), the initiation of consultations with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to link bus routes, and discussions with local governments to make commuting toll-free for Gyeonggi residents near the Ilsan Bridge.
In the youth and housing sector, it was decided to push for the priority supply of youth housing centered around subway station areas.
The transition committee, which launched on June 15, stated during its first press conference on its fourth day and in a briefing by the Planning and Finance Subcommittee yesterday that the province's current debt stands at 7 trillion won, indicating a severe fiscal situation. They have raised the need for expenditure restructuring and for Gyeonggi Province to transition from a non-recipient of local government grants to a recipient.
(Photo: Provided by the Transition Committee, Yonhap News)
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