Yeosu Mayor Kwon Oh-bong, Unable to Distribute Disaster Relief Funds Due to Lack of Money, Yet Spent on Media Promotion Costs

Some General Programming Channels Receive Tens of Millions of Won Annually, While Local Media Are Neglected

Yeosu Mayor Kwon Oh-bong is holding a briefing on the 7th due to the occurrence of a COVID-19 confirmed case.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Kwon Oh-bong, mayor of Yeosu City, is known to some media outlets as a local government head who remains unresponsive despite criticism of poor communication, selectively meeting and giving interviews to certain journalists.

As suspicions arise that Mayor Kwon Oh-bong significantly increased the media promotion budget, some media outlets are expected to strongly oppose this.

Since Mayor Kwon took office in July 2018, Yeosu City has spent 175 million won on media promotion expenses to news organizations.

Last year, Yeosu City spent 551.2 million won on media promotion, raising suspicions that the promotion budget was significantly increased compared to the second half of 2018.

Furthermore, the media promotion expenses Yeosu City spent up to last month this year totaled 561.2 million won, 10 million won more than last year, and this amount is expected to increase further.

A media outlet in the Jeonnam region criticized, “Most of Yeosu City’s business promotion expenses are for goodwill,” pointing out that Mayor Kwon’s business promotion expenses exceed 400 million won this year in the General Affairs Department alone, mostly spent on meals, with no supporting documents for entertainment expenses other than the number of attendees recorded.

There are accusations that Yeosu citizens’ tax money is being treated like petty cash, adding suspicion to the media promotion expenses.

Mayor Kwon, known for banning reporters who publish critical articles, withholding press releases, and refusing meetings with journalists, is suspected of having allocated promotion funds only to select media outlets he favors.

Some in the local community are calling for detailed plans or evaluations to more efficiently manage Yeosu City’s tax money used by Mayor Kwon for media control and division.

In particular, Yeosu City has been spending tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won annually on advertising for certain cable broadcasting companies that do not align with citizens’ sentiments, while neglecting media based in Jeonnam and Yeosu.

This is a point that Yeosu City should avoid for the sake of local media that love Yeosu and strive for its development.

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