Kim Ho-pyeong, Chair of Seoul City Council Budget Committee, Inaugurated; Seoul City's New Year Budget Review Faces Difficulties

Based on his experience as Chairman Kim's lawyer, he has conducted meticulous legislative activities as a Seoul city council member and focused on Seoul's quarantine and Seoul-run issues during questioning of Mayor Oh Se-hoon, suggesting a challenging budget review for Seoul in the new year.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] The approval of the Seoul city budget for the new year is expected to be challenging.

This is because Assemblyman Kim Ho-pyeong, a lawyer who had strongly criticized Mayor Oh Se-hoon over issues such as quarantine measures and SeoulLearn since his inauguration, was elected as the chair of the Seoul City Council Budget Committee.

On the 10th, Kim was narrowly elected over Assemblyman Kyung Man-seon in the internal election among the Seoul City Budget Committee members.

Kim’s election as Budget Committee Chair appears to have been influenced by his strong criticism of Mayor Oh during the special session on the 3rd.

Kim stated, “Mayor Oh was very negligent in COVID-19 quarantine efforts because he was focused on fulfilling his campaign promises, which seems to have ultimately led to the recent sharp increase in confirmed cases in Seoul,” adding, “The response to COVID-19 should not be superficial but must be substantively grounded in an internal recognition of the risks.”

He also criticized the Seoul-type online education platform ‘SeoulLearn’, one of Mayor Oh’s key pledges, which provides free online lectures and mentoring to low-income youth. Private education companies such as ‘Megastudy’, ‘Etoos’, and ‘Daesung MyMac’ are participating in the project, which began operations on August 27.

Additionally, Budget Committee Chair Kim, who holds a lawyer’s license and has experience as a secretary and aide to members of the 19th and 20th National Assembly, is expected to conduct meticulous legislative activities as a Seoul city council member.

One Seoul city council member said, “Chairman Kim is undoubtedly a highly professional assemblyman with a legal background.”

With Kim serving as Budget Committee Chair, the review of next year’s Seoul city budget is anticipated to be tough.

In a phone interview with a reporter, Kim said, “Even during Mayor Park Won-soon’s administration, I reviewed the budget according to principles,” and added, “The idea that I will be tougher with Mayor Oh is a misunderstanding.”

After his election, Budget Committee Chair Kim released a statement analyzing Seoul city’s financial situation for the next year. He noted that if COVID-19 is overcome, revenue conditions would improve due to increased national and local tax revenues following domestic and international economic recovery. However, demands for revitalizing the long-stagnant local economy, continuous investment in COVID-19 quarantine budgets, and welfare for vulnerable groups remain, leading to a situation where expenditures may exceed revenue budgets.

Moreover, in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, Seoul and most local governments secured funds through expenditure budget restructuring to respond to COVID-19, and available resources such as surplus funds and local bonds are limited. Therefore, next year’s budget requires rational choices that identify and reflect the most prioritized projects from the citizens’ perspective in the budget formulation process.

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