Gyeonggi Province Faces Backlash Over Proposed Budget Cuts; Provincial Lawmaker Shaves Head in Protest

Amid Gyeonggi Province drafting its main budget for next year under a "fiscal emergency," backlashes are mounting across various sectors facing potential budget reductions.

The Gyeonggi Farmers Association held a press conference at the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly on November 4, demanding an expansion of agricultural administration budgets.

Holding placards with slogans such as "Do not turn a blind eye to farmers' voices," "Agriculture is a national security industry," and "Increase the agricultural budget, a life-sustaining industry, to the 4% range of the total budget," they criticized Gyeonggi Province, which is reportedly planning to cut agricultural budgets in the first draft of its budget adjustments.

Seo Kwang-bum, a People Power Party member who chairs the Agriculture, Fisheries and Ocean Committee at the Provincial Assembly, attended the press conference and shaved his head to demand the restoration of the agricultural budget and the withdrawal of the province's reorganization plan to merge the Bureau of Agriculture, Fisheries and Life Science and the Bureau of Animal Welfare into a single Bureau of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Life.

During the 2nd plenary session of the 395th regular session of the Provincial Assembly held on the same day, lawmakers across both ruling and opposition parties delivered consecutive 5-minute speeches opposing the budget cuts.

People Power Party lawmaker Oh Nam-seok criticized, "Looking at next year's budget adjustment plan, the budget that Gyeonggi Province itself invests in future industries through the Future Growth Industry Bureau and AI Bureau appears to be less than half of this year's main budget," adding, "While I understand that finances are tight, tightening our belts and cutting off the seeds of our future are entirely different issues."

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Ki-dae expressed concern over cuts to the social solidarity economy budget.

Lawmaker Lee pointed out, "The budget for the Social Innovation Economy Bureau is expected to plunge by more than half, from 57.7 billion won this year to 24.7 billion won next year, with the number of projects also projected to decrease from 51 to 31."

Woo Hyun-wook, a lawmaker of the same party, said, "During the drafting of next year's budget, the sunsetting (abolition) of customized care and family care programs for individuals with profound developmental disabilities is under review on the grounds that they overlap with government-funded integrated care," and urged, "Since the care budget for those with profound developmental disabilities is what keeps a person able to live tomorrow, please ensure that the care is not cut off."

Meanwhile, Bang Sung-hwan, floor leader of the People Power Party at the Provincial Assembly, questioned who should be held accountable for the fiscal emergency declared by Governor Choo, raising accountability issues regarding President Lee Jae-myung based on the fact that local government bonds were issued and various funds were borrowed starting from the former administrations of Lee Jae-myung and Kim Dong-yeon.

In the process, Democratic Party lawmakers shouted in protest against Lawmaker Bang and staged a mass walkout from the plenary session chamber.

Currently, Gyeonggi Province is holding consultations with the Provincial Assembly prior to formulating the final budget proposal based on the budget adjustment plan.

Governor Choo Mi-ae recently stated regarding next year's budget, "Available funds have decreased by about 2 trillion won compared to this year, making the situation so severe that even if we issue local government bonds to the maximum and pull together all funds that are already showing the bottom, it will still be difficult to cover all necessary budgets."

Gyeonggi Province is scheduled to submit its budget proposal on November 11, and the legal deadline for processing the budget is December 16, which is 15 days prior to the start of the fiscal year.

Upon submission of the budget proposal, the Provincial Assembly plans to deliberate and vote on it through respective standing committees and the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts during the current regular session running through December 17.

(Photo provided by reader, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.