Gwangju Seo-gu Council's Next Year's Budget Proposal Contains No Funds for 'Overseas Training'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Seo-gu Council of Gwangju Metropolitan City (Chairman Kim Taeyoung) has attracted attention by not allocating any budget for 'overseas training' in next year's budget proposal. This is unique among the basic councils in Gwangju.

Seo-gu Council announced on the 19th that it has decided not to allocate a budget for overseas training in the 290th 2nd regular session scheduled to begin on the 25th.

This decision was made due to the COVID-19 disaster crisis alert reaching a severe level and the expectation that the spread will continue into next year.

Although some basic councils have fully returned overseas training expenses, they included them in next year's budget and proceeded with domestic training when the COVID situation calmed down, raising criticism that these actions were merely for show.

In response, Seo-gu Council is known to be paying considerable attention to legislative activities conducted domestically as well.

Kim Taejin, Chair of the Seo-gu Council Operations Committee, said, "We must not be blinded by personal gain and should prioritize proper study and research in advance," adding, "We need to focus on practical support measures for residents, such as COVID-19 prevention and economic assistance, rather than tourism-oriented overseas training."

Kim Taeyoung, Chairman of Seo-gu Council, stated, "I hope the budget not allocated for training can be used to help residents facing economic difficulties due to COVID-19," and added, "The decision regarding the overseas training budget was made unanimously after meetings between the council secretariat staff and the chairman group."

Meanwhile, Seo-gu Council decided in August to return the entire 33.8 million won budget for overseas training and, instead of 'domestic training,' invited external instructors to conduct the 1st and 2nd rounds of council member capacity-building education.

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