As Gyeonggi Province has decided to suspend its postpartum care subsidy program at the end of this month due to financial difficulties, local cities and counties are reportedly reviewing plans to continue the program independently.

The Gyeonggi Province postpartum care subsidy program provides 500,000 won worth of local currency to households with newborns, with the budget shared equally between the provincial government and local municipalities.

However, Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae recently decided to suspend the program at the end of this month, stating that the budget for the program had only been allocated for nine months from the beginning and that there are no financial resources to cover the remaining three months due to fiscal constraints.

As criticism continues from households with newborns, local cities and counties are reviewing plans to maintain the program using their own budgets.

Hwaseong is preparing a plan to fully fund the postpartum care subsidies for the fourth quarter using city funds.

A leading plan under review is to first reflect and organize the budget for fourth-quarter postpartum care subsidies in next year's main budget, and then retroactively provide the support to eligible families early next year.

Siheung, Uiwang, and Seongnam plan to continue their separate city-funded programs providing 500,000 won in postpartum care subsidies—independent of the provincial-led program—to minimize the welfare gap felt by citizens.

Amid continuous backlash from residents following Governor Choo's directive announcement, the burden related to postpartum care subsidy support is being directly passed on to local city and county governments.

An official from a local municipality in the province said, "Gyeonggi Province has not only halted postpartum care subsidies but has also suspended or adjusted the budget-sharing ratio to 3-to-7 for four maternal and child health programs, including the postpartum helper program, medical cost support for suspended infertility treatments, and Gyeonggi Province's egg-freezing procedure cost support, making the budgetary burden overwhelming for cities and counties." They added, "Public health centers across cities and counties are being flooded with protest calls from citizens."

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News