Yeosu Civic Society Coalition Opposes New Annex Construction at Yeosu City Hall

Constructing an Annex Building Amid the COVID-19 Situation Is Untimely and Inappropriate

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] The Yeosu Civic Society Coalition issued a statement on the 22nd opposing the construction of an annex building at Yeosu City Hall.

The Yeosu Civic Society Coalition is composed of Yeosu YMCA, Yeosu YWCA, Yeosu Citizens' Association, Yeosu Work and Welfare Solidarity, Yeosu Community Research Institute, Yeosu Environmental Movement Federation, and the Jeon-gyo-jo Yeosu Branch, among others.

Yeosu City proposed a shared property management plan to the 204th Yeosu City Council extraordinary session to demolish temporary buildings behind Hakdong City Hall and construct a new annex building with a budget of 39.2 billion KRW, consisting of two basement floors and four above-ground floors.

Yeosu City argued the necessity of constructing the annex to alleviate citizen inconvenience caused by the dispersed city hall and to enable efficient administration, submitting the shared property management plan to the 204th Yeosu City Council extraordinary session with a budget of 39.2 billion KRW for the annex building of two basement floors and four above-ground floors.

However, on the 16th, the City Council's Planning and Administration Committee deferred the review of this resolution.

The coalition stated that Yeosu City “has not presented objective data on how many citizens are complaining about inconvenience and how inefficient the administration is,” and claimed that “the annex construction promoted by Mayor Kwon Oh-bong is untimely and inappropriate.”

They argued that, amid the increasingly difficult lives of citizens due to COVID-19, spending a budget of 40 billion KRW to build an annex is not timely.

Furthermore, they said, “The project is being pushed forward as citizen opinion gathering based on only one public opinion survey, despite opposition from many citizens and city council members,” and added, “If the annex is necessary, it would not be too late to proceed after objectively analyzing administrative inefficiencies caused by the dispersed city hall and citizen inconveniences, and after going through a public discussion process.”

Meanwhile, regarding the annex construction, the Yeosu City Hall Employees' Union (hereafter City Hall Union) issued a statement on the 6th of last month at City Hall urging the construction of the annex, and on the 1st held a press conference announcing the start of a one-person protest at the City Council entrance demanding the City Council approve the annex construction.

Concerns were expressed that the one-person protest by Yeosu City Hall employees, who are supervised by the Yeosu City Council as an auditing body, could “not only intimidate the City Council, which plays a role in criticizing and monitoring the executive branch’s flawed major policies or reckless project executions, but also cause conflicts between public officials and city council members, ultimately harming the citizens.”

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