"Mayor Oh Se-hoon's Bold Decision Needed!"...Seoul City Council Budget Committee Demands Seoul City's Resolution

Respecting Mayor Oh Se-hoon's Concerns and Worries... Now Is a Disaster Situation, Bold Decisions Needed with Policy Will... Returning to the Original Intention of Mutual Growth and Cooperation to Overcome the Crisis Together

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] It cannot be emphasized enough. We are currently in a crisis situation. Non-essential projects should be temporarily postponed, and new projects should be minimized. What is required of leaders in times of crisis is not challenge and trial, but stability and rescue.

The Seoul Metropolitan Council’s Budget and Accounts Special Committee (Chairman Kim Ho-pyeong), practicing the spirit of consensual democracy, once again proposed to Seoul City the allocation of survival support funds with the single-minded determination to save small business owners and self-employed individuals who have nowhere else to turn, as well as freelancers and special workers in the blind spots of government support?vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19.

There is a frequently mentioned phrase in the East called Son Sang Ik Ha (損上益下), which means “lessen the top and benefit the bottom.” It refers to reducing the burden on the upper class to support the lower class. In times of famine or epidemics when the people’s lives were devastated, reducing taxes and labor duties and using the royal treasury to aid the people was the practice of Son Sang Ik Ha.

The biggest problem with COVID-19 is the polarization of disaster. The vulnerable have become even more vulnerable. Isn’t it the role of administration to make the difficult less difficult? For Seoul City to extend a helping hand and let citizens know that anyone has the right to be protected?that is administration.

Regarding next year’s budget, the gap between Seoul City and the Seoul Metropolitan Council’s views is not easily narrowing. Mayor Oh Se-hoon, as a policymaker, must be deeply concerned and worried amid limited resources and political positions. It is easy to imagine how heavy the sense of responsibility the mayor feels is amid the rising number of confirmed cases and increasing public complaints.

Nevertheless, the Seoul Metropolitan Council’s Budget Committee wishes to earnestly request once again that Mayor Oh Se-hoon allocate survival support funds. A bold decision based on the policy will of Son Sang Ik Ha is needed.

The allocation of survival support funds by Seoul City will become a model case of proactive administration by local governments in a national disaster situation. Survival support funds, transcending political strife and factions, will be a product of cooperative governance achieved hand in hand by the Seoul Mayor and the Seoul Metropolitan Council, providing citizens with inspiration and hope.

Professor Kang Won-guk, a former presidential speech secretary, wrote in his book Speaking Like an Adult that “within crisis lies opportunity. Crisis contains the possibility of turning misfortune into fortune.” If we wisely overcome the crisis, it becomes a foundation for further development and growth. We hope Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s wise choice will allow Seoul citizens to find hope amid the crisis and turn our crisis into opportunity.

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