Oh Byung-kwon Acting Director Meets National Assembly Budget Committee Members to Request 'National Funding Support'

[Asia Economy (Seoul) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Oh Byeong-kwon, Acting Governor of Gyeonggi Province, actively requested cooperation for national budget support related to Gyeonggi Province's social overhead capital (SOC) projects by meeting with members of the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Special Committee.

On the 10th, Acting Governor Oh held a luncheon meeting with National Assembly members Kang Deuk-gu, Kim Seung-won, Kim Han-jung, and Yang Ki-dae, who belong to the National Assembly Budget Committee, at a restaurant near the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, and asked for active cooperation to ensure the smooth progress of major national budget projects in Gyeonggi Province, including the Byeollae Line double-track railway project.

At the meeting, Acting Governor Oh said, "Securing funds for about 60 SOC projects, such as the Byeollae Line double-track railway and the Metropolitan Area Second Ring Expressway (Yangpyeong-Icheon), is essential to alleviate traffic congestion for residents and provide transportation convenience. Early construction is urgently needed, and since these are very important issues from Gyeonggi Province's perspective, I ask for deep interest during the National Assembly's budget review process."

He continued, "Please also cooperate to ensure smooth progress of the metropolitan bus quasi-public operation project with 50% national funding support and the expanded issuance of local currency."

The province requested 146.5 billion KRW in national funds for the completion of the Byeollae Line double-track railway facility construction next year and 117.1 billion KRW in national funds for the full-scale construction of the Metropolitan Area Second Ring Expressway (Yangpyeong-Icheon).

Regarding the metropolitan bus quasi-public operation system, the province emphasized the urgent need to implement the agreement on 'nationalization of metropolitan buses and quasi-public operation' due to delays in new town metropolitan transportation measures and Seoul's restrictions on Gyeonggi buses entering the city, requesting a 50% national funding rate. The government has only reflected 30% in next year's budget.

The expanded issuance of local currency is due to the local currency issuance support budget being drastically reduced by 77.2%, from 1.5 trillion KRW issuance (national funds 1.0522 trillion KRW) in this year's main budget to 600 billion KRW issuance (national funds 240 billion KRW) next year.

The reduction in local currency issuance raises concerns about threatening the local economy due to sharp sales declines and large-scale closures of small merchants. The province argues that the issuance scale should be expanded from 6 trillion KRW to 29 trillion KRW (Gyeonggi 1.4 trillion KRW → 5.4133 trillion KRW). It also proposed increasing the national subsidy rate from the current 4% of issuance amount to 8%.

After the meeting, Acting Governor Oh visited the National Assembly and held a meeting with Maeng Sung-kyu, Democratic Party secretary of the Budget Committee, to discuss securing national funds and major issues.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province is focusing efforts on securing national funds by designating 5.1541 trillion KRW in national funds for 95 major national budget projects as priority management targets.

Major national budget projects in Gyeonggi Province include ▲national budget support for the issuance and operation of Gyeonggi local currency ▲Daegwangwi metropolitan bus quasi-public operation project ▲Byeollae Line double-track railway construction project ▲support projects for areas surrounding U.S. military bases in Korea ▲emergency welfare support projects, among others.

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