Jang Jaesung, Gwangju City Council Member, Criticizes "Domestic and Foreign Corporate Investment Agreements as Performance-Oriented Exhibitions"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City has faced claims that its domestic and international corporate investment agreements are merely performative administrative displays aimed at boosting performance records.

On the 4th, Jang Jae-seong, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Democratic Party, Seo-gu 1), criticized during the administrative audit of the Job Economy Office, stating, “Gwangju Metropolitan City is engaging in performative administration to accumulate achievements regarding domestic and international corporate investment agreements.”

An analysis of Gwangju Metropolitan City's domestic and international corporate investment status over the past five years revealed that 238 companies across 16 sectors including automobiles, AI, consumer electronics, medical, and robotics signed investment agreements totaling 1.697 trillion KRW, promising to employ 7,676 people.

Among these, domestic companies covered 212 firms in 14 sectors (investment of 1.5469 trillion KRW, employment of 6,844), while foreign companies included 26 firms in 14 sectors (investment of 150.1 billion KRW, employment of 832).

Furthermore, according to data on the progress after signing investment agreements with domestic and international companies over the past five years, although agreements were made with 238 companies, the actual investment rate was 42.4%, with only 101 companies proceeding with investments.

Although domestic and international companies pledged to invest 1.697 trillion KRW in Gwangju, the actual invested amount was only 530.3 billion KRW (31.2%), and while 7,676 jobs were promised, only 1,617 (21%) were realized.

Council member Jang Jae-seong pointed out, “To eliminate distrust that these frequent agreements are merely performative acts to accumulate achievements, Gwangju Metropolitan City must conduct quarterly progress checks on the agreed tasks to improve the implementation rate and efficiency of these agreements.”

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