As disability advocacy groups and politicians criticized Gyeonggi Province's move to cut public job budgets for people with disabilities, the provincial government stated that "nothing has been finalized."

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 28th, the province completely slashed the budget for the "Rights-Centered Customized Public Jobs for Severe Disabilities" program in its recently drafted first adjustment plan for the 2027 main budget.

This program provides public jobs for severely disabled residents in the province across three areas: rights advocacy, culture and arts, and awareness raising.

This year, 857 severely disabled individuals worked through this program.

They received monthly salaries ranging from 800,000 to 1 million won depending on their working hours.

The program is funded entirely by provincial funds, with 12.7 billion won invested this year.

Upon learning that the program's budget was omitted from the first adjustment plan, the Gyeonggi Coalition for Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities held rallies in front of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government building on the 27th and 28th to criticize the move.

Kim Mi-beom, head of the Gyeonggi Association of Parents of People with Disabilities, argued, "This precious job, where our children worked for the very first time in their lives, received salaries, and grew as citizens, should not be eliminated through administrative logic and the excuse of a lack of budget."

Democratic Party Supreme Council Member Seo Mi-hwa criticized Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae during a supreme council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 26th, saying, "Please do not view rights-centered public jobs for the most severely disabled as mere money." She added, "It is too difficult to bear the criticism that this is a spitting image of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who overnight laid off 400 workers with severe disabilities."

Gyeonggi Province maintains that there is a possibility the program's budget could be re-reflected during the budget compilation process.

An official from Gyeonggi Province stated, "It is true that there is a budget burden because the province's public job support program for people with disabilities is the largest in the country and is 100 percent funded by provincial revenues, but budget cuts have not been finalized." The official added, "We are currently in ongoing communication with disability advocacy groups and reviewing their demands, so there is a possibility that the budget will be re-reflected when the final main budget is compiled."

Regarding next year's main budget, Governor Choo also stated in a post on her Facebook page on the 26th, "I will look more closely at budgets related to people with disabilities and take special care to ensure that no difficulties arise in the lives of disabled individuals and their families."

(Photo: Yonhap News)