"Boldly Taking the Scalpel"... Kim Jin-tae, Governor-elect of Gangwon, Announces 'High-Intensity Innovation in Gangwon Provincial Government'

Significant Reduction of Overextended Organizations, Elimination of One-Time and Favoritism Events
Comprehensive Review of Unjustified Subsidy Support
Governor's Inauguration Ceremony Held During Gangwon Province Residents' Day Event

Kim Jin-tae, the elected governor of Gangwon Province, held a press conference on the 23rd at the Gangwon Provincial Office briefing room, announcing a high-intensity innovation for the Gangwon provincial administration. Photo by Ra Young-cheol

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Kim Jin-tae, the governor-elect of Gangwon Province, announced a high-intensity innovation of the Gangwon provincial government, stating, "We will abolish committees that do not work and have poor performance, and conduct a comprehensive review of subsidies that lack feasibility."

In his opening remarks at a press conference held on the 23rd at the Gangwon Provincial Government briefing room, Kim Jin-tae said, "Before appealing to the residents for sharing the pain amid the severe economic crisis, at least we must stop the residents' tax money from leaking here and there," making a resolute statement.

He continued, "When an economic crisis occurs, residents tighten their belts on their own, but if public institutions waste tax money recklessly, how can residents accept that?" signaling a strong restructuring of public institutions.

This is a warning that no more residents' tax money can be invested in public institutions that suffer from inefficient organization management and decreased productivity.

Kim Jin-tae diagnosed, "The number of committees under the provincial government was 93 in 2010, but as of April 2022, it has increased to 189, doubling over the past 12 years."

According to the New Gangwon Province Preparation Committee (the transition committee for the Gangwon governor), there are 73 divisions within the provincial government office, but 189 committees under the provincial government.

The total number of committee members, including overlapping personnel, is 3,417. This is more than the 2,251 Gangwon provincial government officials excluding firefighters.

Also, in the past year, 31 committees did not hold a single meeting, and 55 committees held only one meeting.

Among the 189 committees, 86 either did not hold any meetings or held only one meeting in a year.

The total annual budget allocated is 513.95 million KRW, with an average of 778,000 KRW per meeting. This means that budgets were allocated but meetings were not held.

Kim Jin-tae said, "This is unacceptable," and added, "We will abolish committees that hold meetings less than once a year and those that do not work and have poor performance first."

He also expressed his intention to conduct a comprehensive review of subsidies that lack feasibility.

The scale of provincial subsidies invested in projects by subsidized organizations this year is 97.1 billion KRW for a total of 261 projects by about 170 organizations.

Kim Jin-tae pointed out, "Many of these are questionable in terms of feasibility, and their purpose, content, and effectiveness seem unclear."

He cited the 'Pyeongchang Peace Forum' hosted by the 2018 Pyeongchang Foundation as a representative case of budget waste.

The forum, now in its fourth year, received 1.2 billion KRW in subsidies over three days. It is reported that Shim Jae-guk, the mayor-elect of Pyeongchang County, also pointed out the budget waste issue of the 'Pyeongchang Peace Forum' during the recent election process.

Kim Jin-tae firmly stated, "There will be no more subsidies of 1.2 billion KRW for such events in the future."

He also identified the 'Chuncheon Hosunara Mulbit Festival' as a one-time and populist event.

The budget allocated for this festival is 1.5 billion KRW, of which 900 million KRW was spent on a multimedia show commemorating the completion of Legoland.

However, the 620 million KRW budget for fireworks was postponed to be executed after July.

In particular, during the wildfires on the East Coast in March, there was criticism for holding a fireworks festival with residents' tax money.

Kim Jin-tae said, "Gangwon Province will not participate in the Hosunara fireworks festival," and added, "We will reclaim the 300 million KRW in unused provincial funds."

As the first step in abolishing one-time events and reducing the budget, he decided to omit a separate governor inauguration ceremony on July 1 and instead incorporate the inauguration ceremony into the Gangwon Residents' Day event on July 8.

Kim Jin-tae pledged, "Gangwon Province will boldly lead administrative innovation competition as a special autonomous province and take decisive measures. We will create a first-class Gangwon that overcomes the economic crisis first with tax money management that residents can accept, a special Gangwon."

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