Petitions Urging Gyeonggi Governor Chu Mi-ae to Step Down Surpass 10,000 Signatures Following Controversy Over Budget Cuts and 1.2 Billion Won Official Residence

A petition urging Gyeonggi Province Governor Chu Mi-ae to resign has surpassed 10,000 signatures—the threshold required for an official response—just three days after being posted.

According to the "Gyeonggi Petitions" website today (the 14th), the petition titled "Petition for the Resignation of Governor Chu Mi-ae" surpassed 10,000 participants as of 5:30 p.m. today.

This comes four days after the petition was posted on the 11th of this month.

The petitioner wrote, "According to the fiscal analysis by the Democratic Party's Fiscal Soundness Task Force, a comprehensive review of various indicators and fiscal structures shows that the fiscal situation cannot be immediately concluded as a crisis. Despite this, the governor forced a fiscal emergency declaration based solely on subjective judgment, claiming that 'bankruptcy is imminent at this rate,' and carried out an expenditure restructuring amounting to a staggering 546.5 billion won in this supplementary budget."

The petitioner added, "What is even more shocking is that while cutting civil servant incentives by more than half under the pretext of a fiscal emergency, she contracted a 47-pyeong apartment with a deposit exceeding 1.2 billion won to use as her sole official residence."

The petitioner further stated, "As the side effects of the excessive budget cuts are surfacing one by one and threatening the daily lives of provincial residents, we petition for Governor Chu Mi-ae's resignation before it is too late."

With the number of participants exceeding 10,000, the petition qualifies for an official response from the governor, requiring Governor Chu to respond to the demand for her resignation within 30 days.

This is not the first time Gyeonggi residents have pushed back against the province's high-intensity austerity measures.

Previously, a petition protesting Gyeonggi Province's decision to terminate the postpartum care subsidy support program also surpassed 10,000 signatures.

Regarding this, Governor Chu explained via her social media the previous day, "This year's budget was originally allocated for only nine months, and with no funds left to cover the three-month gap, we could not halt children's meals and support for the disabled and vulnerable."

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