Gwangju City Councilor Park Mijeong Holds Policy Debate on 'Development Directions of Participatory Budgeting System'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Park Mijeong, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Democratic Party of Korea·Dong-gu 2), held a policy forum on the development direction of the participatory budgeting system on the 7th.

According to the Gwangju City Council, Park chaired the forum, with Kim Sangcheol, chief research fellow at the Nara Salrim Research Institute, and Ki Woosik, secretary general of Participatory Autonomy 21, presenting papers. Representatives of civil society and administrative officials participated as discussants.

Kim Sangcheol, chief research fellow at the Nara Salrim Research Institute, began by reviewing the global implementation status of participatory budgeting and analyzed various domestic cases.

Chief Research Fellow Kim said, “In the context of the climate crisis and the pandemic, the direction itself must shift from mobilizing citizens as a means for administrative problem-solving to a method where citizens can freely access administrative resources to solve their own problems.”

Ki Woosik, secretary general of Participatory Autonomy 21, emphasized, “It is necessary to break away from the current contest-centered structure of participatory budgeting and boldly innovate toward strengthening cooperation between local governments and citizens and establishing a deliberative structure.”

Councilor Park said, “We have started a public forum involving civil society, government, politics, and academia to discuss a progressive direction that respects the original purpose and intent of the citizen participatory budgeting system as well as its procedures and processes. We will continue to strive to uphold the fundamental principle that the council and administration must move forward together with citizens’ participation.”

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