Lee Jae-myung Requests Cooperation from People Power Party on Key Issues Including Expansion of Local Currency Issuance

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, urgently called for active cooperation from the People Power Party, emphasizing the need to expand the issuance of local currency and to implement the agreed 50% national treasury burden for the metropolitan bus quasi-public operation project to stabilize citizens' lives and revitalize the regional economy.

At the 'People Power Party-Gyeonggi Province Budget Policy Council' held at the National Assembly on the 14th, Governor Lee said, "In politics, there may be differences in positions between the ruling and opposition parties, but I believe it is desirable to cooperate regardless of party lines on matters necessary for the residents." He added, "Although Gyeonggi Province has a high fiscal independence rate, major projects still depend on the central government. I ask for active support on matters that require national-level attention."

Governor Lee particularly emphasized the national funding support for expanding local currency issuance and the implementation of the national treasury burden agreement for the metropolitan bus quasi-public operation project.

He stated, "In this (government budget proposal), the budget for local currency support was cut by 77%. The COVID-19 pandemic has not yet ended, but a large-scale budget cut was made assuming it would be resolved." He stressed, "In the past two years, the People Power Party agreed to increase the local currency support budget. This is a very important issue from Gyeonggi Province's perspective."

Regarding metropolitan buses, he said, "It was agreed with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to nationalize the metropolitan bus affairs of Gyeonggi Province, but the budget burden is 70% local and 30% central government," adding, "It is like parents passing on household responsibilities to their children," requesting the National Assembly's attention.

The proposed expansion of local currency issuance by Governor Lee comes as the local currency issuance support budget is reduced from 15 trillion won in this year's main budget to about 6 trillion won next year, and national funding support is even more severely cut from 1.0522 trillion won to 240 billion won, a 77.2% decrease.

The reduction in local currency issuance threatens the regional economy due to the sharp decline in sales of small merchants and large-scale business closures. Therefore, Gyeonggi Province's position is to expand the issuance scale from 6 trillion won to 29 trillion won (Gyeonggi 1.4 trillion won → 5.4133 trillion won). They also proposed increasing the national subsidy rate from the current 4% of issuance amount to 8%.

In the case of the metropolitan bus quasi-public operation system, the implementation of the agreement on 'nationalization of metropolitan bus affairs and quasi-public operation' is urgent due to delays in new town metropolitan transportation measures and Seoul's restrictions on Gyeonggi buses entering the city. The province requested a 50% national treasury burden rate, but the Ministry of Economy and Finance's review of next year's government budget only reflected 30%, so they requested the inclusion of a 50% national treasury burden (39.9 billion won).

Regarding this, Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, said, "Today's issues are mainly related not to political matters but to the livelihood of our residents," and added, "I hope this will be a constructive discussion to help Gyeonggi Province develop further and for residents to be happier."

The council was held for about an hour with the attendance of Floor Leader Kim Ki-hyun, Policy Committee Chairman Kim Do-eup, Budget and Accounts Committee Chairman Lee Jong-bae, and lawmakers Yoo Ui-dong, Kim Seon-kyo, and Choi Chun-sik.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province submitted 11 agenda items in writing, including ▲ institutional improvements for protecting workers' rights ▲ easing interest burdens on loans for low-income groups ▲ national funding support for installing public wastewater treatment facilities in semiconductor clusters ▲ expansion of special judicial police duties ▲ institutional improvements to eradicate illegal business activities in rivers and valleys ▲ institutional improvements for fair procurement ▲ sharing supervisory authority to strengthen fair trade monitoring capabilities ▲ nationwide expansion of Gyeonggi Province's fair allowance policy for non-regular workers ▲ institutional improvements related to pet business management and playground installation, among others.

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