▲ Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae
A civic group filed a police complaint today (Sept. 15) against Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae on charges including abuse of power and breach of trust, accusing her of excessive budget spending on an official residence and official vehicles despite Gyeonggi Province's fiscal emergency.
The Citizens' Coalition for Justice and Righteousness visited the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency at 11 a.m. today and submitted a complaint requesting that Governor Choo be punished for abuse of authority, breach of trust, violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (loss of state funds, etc.), and defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, Etc.
Kim Han-me, the standing representative of the coalition, held a press conference prior to submitting the complaint, pointing out that Governor Choo spent 1.22 billion won of provincial funds to lease an apartment in the Gwanggyo area as an official residence, even after declaring a "fiscal emergency" in Gyeonggi Province and embarking on restructuring expenditures.
"While drastically cutting budgets for provincial residents, she spent provincial funds for her own official residence and official vehicle," Kim claimed, adding, "This went against the duty to manage finances soundly and efficiently, inflicting losses on Gyeonggi Province."
He maintains that such budget execution amounts to abusing the governor's budget compilation authority to obstruct relevant public officials from exercising their legitimate rights, and inflicting financial damage on Gyeonggi Province, which constitutes charges such as breach of trust.
Previously, Governor Choo declared a "Gyeonggi Province fiscal emergency" on August 5, citing deteriorated financial conditions due to the issuance of local government bonds by the previous administration.
Subsequently, while compiling a supplementary budget bill, Gyeonggi Province undertook expenditure restructuring amounting to 546.5 billion won. However, controversy arose after it was recently revealed that Governor Choo had contracted a lease for an apartment in Gwanggyo New Town, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, with a dedicated area of 156 square meters, using 1.22 billion won in provincial funds.
In addition, Kim argued that Governor Choo's remarks targeting President Lee Jae-myung—asking, "Why are you riding on the coattails of these forces and walking on eggshells?"—at the 2026 Gyeonggi Province Pro-Democracy Movement Victims Memorial Service held at Moran Park in Namyangju on the 12th amounted to defamation by stating false facts under the Information and Communications Network Act.
The group argued that she made such remarks without objective grounds that President Lee had compromised with insurrection forces, thereby lowering the President's social evaluation.
The police plan to review the contents of the complaint submitted by the coalition today and initiate an investigation.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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