Song Guigeun, Governor of Goheung County, Puts All Efforts into Securing National Government Budget for Next Year

Meeting with Ministry of Economy and Finance Budget Officials, Requesting 22.8 Billion KRW in National Funds for New Issues Next Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Song Guigun, the governor of Goheung County, announced on the 22nd that he is putting all his efforts into securing next year's government budget, including visiting the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, where the first review of government budget is underway, to resolve projects for building a growth foundation for regional development.

This visit was arranged for the governor to personally visit central government departments and take a more logical approach to maximize the allocation of national funds, amid expectations of difficulties in securing next year's national budget due to increased uncertainty in government revenue forecasts caused by the COVID-19 aftermath.

Before meeting with budget officials from central government departments, Governor Song held a luncheon meeting with fellow public officials working at the Government Complex Sejong to explain local pending projects and asked for active interest and support for hometown development.

First, he visited the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, a friendly government department, and after meeting with Oh Byung-kwon, Director of Local Finance Policy in the Grants Division, he requested support for a special grant of 6 billion KRW for three urgent local projects including the construction of the Goheung Senior Health Welfare Town.

Next, he visited the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Budget Division of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and actively proposed government-level interest and national budget allocation to ensure the commencement next year of regional long-standing projects such as △ widening and expansion to 4 lanes of National Road No. 15 from Goheung to Bongrae (307.5 billion KRW) △ facility improvement of National Road No. 77 from Yeongnam to Podu in Goheung (78 billion KRW) to improve accessibility to Naro Space Center, the only one in the country, and transportation conditions to central region tourist sites.

Immediately after, he visited three divisions including the Agriculture, Forestry and Maritime Budget Division to request support for inclusion in next year's government budget of projects such as △ establishment of a smart farm resident-participation horticulture complex (12 billion KRW) △ development of core technologies for eVTOL autonomous flight, flight stability, and operability test evaluation technology project (29.5 billion KRW) △ maintenance of five disaster risk areas (18.7 billion KRW), receiving positive responses.

Governor Song Guigun said, “It is most important that next year's local pending projects are reflected as much as possible in the government budget to ensure their smooth progress,” and added, “Until the final submission of next year's government budget bill to the National Assembly, I will fully mobilize all human networks to ensure that our county's major pending projects are reflected in the government budget as much as possible.”

He further urged all public officials, “Since June to July is an important period when the Ministry of Strategy and Finance generally finalizes next year's government budget proposals from each department, please respond systematically and strategically and make every effort to secure national funds.”

The 2021 government budget bill will be submitted to the National Assembly by September 3, and the National Assembly will make the final approval and confirmation of the government budget bill on December 2.

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