Gimhae City Council Fully Returns Overseas Training Expenses and Issues Apology

Gyeongnam Gimhae City Council.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] The Gimhae City Council in Gyeongnam has decided to return the entire budget allocated for overseas training.

On the 13th, the Gimhae City Council announced that it would return the entire related budget after raising the overseas training expenses despite the social atmosphere struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused public criticism.

The Gimhae City Council stated in a press release, "We sincerely apologize for the thoughtless judgment made during this serious time."

They added that they would return the entire budget allocated for overseas training and use it to overcome COVID-19.

This year, the City Council raised the overseas training budget (including international travel expenses and travel expenses for visits to sister and friendly cooperative cities) to 104.65 million KRW, drawing criticism from local residents. This budget is 17.58% higher than last year's budget of 89 million KRW.

After the news of the Gimhae City Council increasing the overseas training budget became known, voices criticizing the budget increase flooded the City Council’s website and other platforms.

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