Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop Hustles to Secure Next Year's National Budget

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, is 'busy running around' securing national funds.

According to Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 15th, Mayor Lee visited Lee Jong-bae, Chairman of the Budget and Accounts Committee, and Shin Jeong-hoon, a member of the Budget and Accounts Committee, one after another to request cooperation for additional national funding for major projects in Gwangju as the National Assembly's review of next year's government budget is in full swing.

On that day, visiting Chairman Lee Jong-bae, he actively proposed the inclusion of national funds for five projects: ▲Preliminary feasibility planning research for the establishment of the National High Magnetic Field Research Institute ▲Establishment of Gwangju Metropolitan City Medical Center ▲Customized support such as housing costs for Gwangju-type local jobs ▲Establishment of an integrated care system for people with developmental disabilities in Gwangju Metropolitan City ▲Creation of Asia Art Plaza.

He also met with Shin Jeong-hoon, a member of the Budget and Accounts Subcommittee for Gwangju and Jeonnam, and requested cooperation for the inclusion in the Budget and Accounts Committee of ten projects including ▲Construction of the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall ▲Customized support such as housing costs for Gwangju-type local jobs ▲Creation of Bitgoeul Smart Mega City ▲Construction of regionally specialized cultural facilities ▲Construction of the National Honam Youth Didim Center.

Furthermore, he visited Budget and Accounts Committee members such as Jeong Tae-ho and local National Assembly members including Song Gap-seok, Lee Hyung-seok, and Jo Oh-seop to explain the necessity of increasing national funds for 45 projects including ▲Basic planning research for the Ultra-wide Energy Community ▲Creation of Social Economy Innovation Town ▲Bitgoeul Smart Mega City, and requested their interest and support.

Gwangju City is concentrating all administrative efforts to achieve maximum results by cooperating with the National Assembly leadership, Budget and Accounts Committee, local National Assembly members, and central government ministries so that 56 major projects worth 182.7 billion KRW in additional budget requests can be increased or added during the National Assembly budget review process.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, “As this is the last National Assembly of the 7th local government term, we will do our utmost to secure the necessary national budget so that the projects we have pursued over the past three and a half years can bear fruit.”

Meanwhile, Gwangju City has secured the largest-ever government budget of 3.1457 trillion KRW for 358 projects, an increase of 13.8% (381.9 billion KRW) compared to this year, by focusing on securing national funds for future growth projects to revitalize the local economy, such as large-scale SOC projects including the construction of Urban Railway Line 2, which is being promoted as a priority, and job creation through the establishment of ecosystems for artificial intelligence and the automobile industry.

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