Seongnam Sustainable Development Association: "Support Was Legal When Lee Jae-myung Candidate's Close Aide Was Secretary-General... Do Not Mislead Public Opinion"

Seongnam City Hall

[Asia Economy (Seongnam) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province and the 'Seongnam Sustainable Development Council' (formerly Seongnam Agenda 21 Action Council) dismissed the claim by Kwon Young-se, a member of the People Power Party, who alleged that a close aide of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, who worked as the secretary-general of Seongnam Agenda 21, received about 1.8 billion KRW in support funds over 12 years, as if they had received enormous special favors, calling it an "intentional attempt to mislead public opinion."

A representative of the Seongnam Sustainable Development Council stated on the 11th, "This year, our organization's budget is about 220 million KRW, which is similar to Yangpyeong County's 210 million KRW, and about half the size of Suwon City's 450 million KRW, a nearby local government of similar scale."

They added, "Compared to smaller local governments like Jeju City with 160 million KRW and Tongyeong City in Gyeongnam with 190 million KRW, it cannot be considered a large amount. Especially considering that Seongnam Agenda 21 has steadily increased its budget over more than 20 years since its inception, the 1.8 billion KRW over the past 12 years is arithmetically only about 150 million KRW per year."

Furthermore, "This amount is not support given to the secretary-general personally (known as a close aide of presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung), but the total amount covering various projects, personnel expenses, and operating costs," they emphasized.

The representative also clarified regarding the appointment of former Gyeonggi Province secretary Kim Hyun-ji as the secretary-general of Seongnam Agenda 21, stating, "The secretary-general was appointed through a public recruitment process according to Seongnam City's ordinance and articles of association."

A Seongnam City official explained the funding support for Seongnam Agenda 21, saying, "The support funds were provided based on the ordinance."

Seongnam Agenda 21 is a public-private cooperative organization established in 1998, led by environmental and urban experts active in the Seongnam area, advocating for regional development. On the 9th, as the government integrated the 'Sustainable Development Act' and the 'Framework Act on Low Carbon Green Growth' into the 'Framework Act on Sustainable Development,' the name Seongnam Agenda 21 was also changed to 'Seongnam Sustainable Development Council.'

Earlier, on the 10th, Kwon Young-se of the People Power Party raised suspicions that former secretary Kim Hyun-ji, a close aide of presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, received special favors while working as secretary-general, stating, "An analysis of data submitted by the Gyeonggi Provincial Government shows that Seongnam Agenda 21 received 1.788 billion KRW in support funds from Seongnam City over 12 years from 2010 to October this year."

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