199 Gwangju Senior Officials 'Voluntarily' Donate Disaster Relief Funds

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City is participating in overcoming the COVID-19 economic crisis by donating emergency disaster relief funds and promoting consumption stimulation campaigns.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop and 119 senior officials at the level of department head or higher have voluntarily decided to donate the emergency disaster relief funds, which the government plans to provide to all citizens, by not applying for them or through other means.

In addition, to recover the local economy weakened by the COVID-19 situation and secure support funds for small business owners affected, the city has voluntarily cut employee welfare budgets and various event-related budgets.

These budgets will be used to support small business owners once approved by the city council plenary session.

Furthermore, to support small business owners suffering from the prolonged COVID-19 crisis, consumption stimulation campaigns will be actively promoted.

Gwangju City has been conducting consumption stimulation campaigns such as regular closure days for in-house cafeterias, shopping at traditional markets, early budget execution, visits to welfare facilities, and purchasing flowers from floriculture farms to help recover traditional markets and local commercial districts, and plans to continue these efforts for the time being.

Earlier, Mayor Lee Yong-seop donated 12 million won, equivalent to 30% of his salary for three months starting from March, to the Community Chest of Korea.

Park Hyang, Director of the City Autonomous Administration Bureau, said, “It is regrettable that the damage to local small business owners is growing like a snowball as the COVID-19 crisis prolongs. We hope that the small donations from public officials and active budget reorganization will serve as a catalyst for spreading donations and revitalizing the local economy.”

Meanwhile, disaster relief funds provided by the government will be treated as voluntary donations if not applied for within three months from the application date or if the intention to donate is indicated during the application process.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.