Fighting Back, Choo Mi-ae Blaming Predecessors Again? Slams Presidential Bid Speculation: "I've Never Pulled Such a Scam!"

Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae livestreamed the entire monthly meeting of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government online, strongly calling out the financial mismanagement of previous administrations regarding the province's recent severe fiscal crisis.

Disclosing the province's serious financial situation, Governor Choo said, "When I opened the safe, all the funds had been depleted, and municipal bonds had been issued five consecutive times, generating hundreds of millions of won in interest every day."

[Choo Mi-ae / Gyeonggi Governor: "Then they should have made the actual situation known in advance and prepared countermeasures. What am I supposed to do if they just hand it down to me in that condition? We must inform the provincial residents about this so that we can overcome it together."]

Regarding the provincial council's demand for an 80 billion won budget increase, she clearly expressed her refusal, stating, "Under circumstances where approximately 400 million won is spent daily on interest alone, we cannot take on more debt to expand the budget."

She also drew a firm line against rumors that her actions are tied to a presidential bid.

[Choo Mi-ae / Gyeonggi Governor: "There are rumors going around that I might be hiding money to use for a presidential run. It is truly appalling. I have not lived my life that way, and I have never pulled such a scam in my entire life."]

However, criticism is emerging from within her party and local political circles that blaming previous governors' policy failures under the pretext of 'fiscal consolidation' is a biased perspective that ignores unavoidable circumstances, such as the COVID-19 response during the previous administration and cuts in central government grants.

Previously, after Governor Choo officially declared a fiscal emergency for Gyeonggi Province, difficulties arose in distributing livelihood budgets—such as universal support for sanitary products for female adolescents, interest subsidies on rental deposits for newlyweds, and postpartum care expenses—triggering continuous public backlash and ongoing repercussions.

Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Kim Min-ji | Design by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.