"Why Did the Sewing Company Return 500 Million Won Budget to Seoul City?"... Gwangjin-gu Council Members Explode, 'Unprecedented Crisis' Occurs

Gwangjin-gu Council Members Kim Hoigeun, Jang Gyeonghui, and Lee Myeongok of the Democratic Party Focus on Why Seoul City Returned 500 Million Won Budget for Sewing Companies to Gwangjin-gu Office at the Temporary Meeting on the 10th... Mayor Kim Seonggap Responds, "Returned After Internal Deliberation on Smart Process Innovation Project to Secure Larger-Scale Public Projects"

The photo shows the regular session of the Gwangjin District Council at the end of last year.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Gwangjin District Council is in turmoil.

This is due to Gwangjin District returning 500 million KRW of the budget for the smart process automation project for sewing companies back to Seoul City.

The Gwangjin District Council (Chairperson Park Sam-rye) held the first plenary session of the 250th extraordinary meeting on the 10th and conducted questions regarding district administration.

On this day, three Democratic Party council members?Kim Hoe-geun, Jang Kyung-hee, and Lee Myung-ok?successively focused their questioning on Mayor Kim Seon-gap about the reason for returning the 500 million KRW budget allocated by Seoul City to Gwangjin District Office for sewing companies.

Councilor Kim Hoe-geun criticized, "Due to the prolonged COVID-19 situation, self-employed individuals are facing a serious crisis. During such difficult times, Gwangjin District returned the 500 million KRW budget, which could have greatly helped sewing companies, with an incomprehensible administrative decision."

Councilor Jang Kyung-hee stated, "Gwangjin District ranks ninth in Seoul for the number of sewing companies, especially Junggok-dong, where 605 companies, accounting for 65% of Gwangjin’s garment manufacturing firms, are concentrated, and about 3,000 residents are engaged in sewing work. However, Gwangjin District delayed the execution for one year and five months for unreasonable reasons and then returned the entire amount, dashing the hopes of small business owners."

Councilor Lee Myung-ok sharply criticized, "There was no policy regarding the sewing industry in the mayor’s campaign promises. It is utterly incomprehensible to neglect the sewing industry, a major industry in our district, to this extent."

These councilors questioned the reason for not using and returning the 500 million KRW budget granted in 2020 when selected for the Seoul City smart process automation project, and why the project site was attempted to be moved from the originally applied Junggok-dong to Guui 1-dong, demanding answers and an apology from Mayor Kim, which created tension in the plenary session.

Because three councilors from the same party raised the same topic on the same day, other council members watching commented, "This unprecedented incident of so-called 'internal criticism' occurred where councilors from the same party publicly criticized a mayor from their own party," expressing regret.

Accordingly, Democratic Party councilors Chu Yoon-gu and Jang Gil-cheon suggested that instead of three councilors questioning on the same topic, one councilor should summarize, but the situation could not be prevented.

It is known that Mayor Kim Seon-gap of Gwangjin District was put in a difficult position by this situation.

However, Mayor Kim explained, "During consultations, Seoul City stated that locations not considered clusters are not allowed, but instead proposed a larger-scale Smart Solution Anchor project. According to Seoul City’s criteria for project sites, if the Smart Process Automation project and the Smart Solution Anchor project are pursued simultaneously, a deduction of 30 points under the ‘avoidance factor’ clause for overlapping similar facilities applies. Therefore, it is difficult to pursue two projects of the same type simultaneously, so after internal consideration, we decided to return the Smart Process Automation project budget to secure a larger-scale project."

He also said, "The originally planned project site at Junggok-dong 626-16 was inconvenient due to the building’s aging and the absence of an elevator, which is an essential requirement. We looked for another site in Junggok-dong but securing a 100-pyeong (approx. 330 sqm) facility was not easy. To lay the foundation for revitalizing the declining sewing industry support facilities in a better environment, we considered relocating to the Gwangjin Economic Hub Center in Guui-dong."

Although the Gwangjin Economic Hub Center is not a cluster site as intended by the project, it was judged possible by the relevant department if a connection system is established through an on-site office, temporary transport vehicles, and various services.

Mayor Kim reiterated, "During consultations, Seoul City stated that locations not considered clusters are not allowed, but instead proposed a larger-scale Smart Solution Anchor project. According to Seoul City’s criteria for project sites, if the Smart Process Automation project and the Smart Solution Anchor project are pursued simultaneously, a deduction of 30 points under the ‘avoidance factor’ clause for overlapping similar facilities applies. Therefore, it is difficult to pursue two projects of the same type simultaneously, so after internal consideration, we decided to return the Smart Process Automation project budget to secure a larger-scale project."

Regarding the question about not applying for the Seoul City Smart Solution Anchor project, he said, "It is true that Seoul City planned the Smart Solution Anchor project in 2021, and official documents were issued."

However, the Seoul City Economic Policy Office failed to include the project budget in the 2022 main budget, so the Smart Solution Anchor project was ultimately not implemented.

He added, "While it is pointed out that Gwangjin District returned the 500 million KRW shared project budget, please note that other autonomous districts have also returned Smart Anchor project budgets depending on regional characteristics and circumstances."

Meanwhile, before Mayor Kim’s response, Councilor Chu Yoon-gu, a five-term council member and former chairperson, declared his departure from the Democratic Party, stating, "I have served as a five-term council member, former chairperson and vice-chairperson, and have worked for the common people and middle class as a Democratic Party member for 35 years, but as of today, I will leave the Democratic Party."

Thus, the conflict within the Gwangjin District Democratic Party triggered by the return of the sewing budget is expected to intensify significantly, drawing attention.

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