Gyeonggi Office of Education Faces Serious Issues with Improper Special Grant Spending... 15 Billion Won in the Last 5 Years

Lee Ki-hyung, Democratic Party of Korea, Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Allegations have emerged that the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education improperly spent approximately 15 billion KRW in special grants over the past five years.

The current 'Local Education Finance Grants Act' stipulates that if a 'city or provincial superintendent of education' uses special grants in violation of conditions or purposes, or fails to use them for more than two years, they may be ordered to return the funds or have the corresponding amount deducted (grant reduction) from the next special grant allocation.

On the 13th, Lee Ki-hyung, a member of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council (Democratic Party of Korea, Gimpo 4), stated in a press release, "Upon reviewing the Ministry of Education's special grant 'grant reduction' status from 2018 to 2022 by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, we found that 4.4 billion KRW from 65 projects in 2018, 4.19 billion KRW from 112 projects in 2019, 2.67 billion KRW from 27 projects in 2021, and 3.88 billion KRW from 27 projects in 2022?totaling 15 billion KRW in special grants?were used inappropriately or arbitrarily executed."

Lee particularly pointed out, "Looking closely at the details, although some grant reductions were due to decreased project volumes, there was a continuous pattern of unreasonable unauthorized budget use, such as purchasing sofas and supplies unrelated to new gymnasium construction projects, spending on construction costs different from the project plan, and reporting discrepancies in execution balances."

Furthermore, he criticized, "Due to the Gyeonggi Office of Education not adhering to budget execution principles, Gyeonggi Province, which has lower education expenses per student compared to other cities and provinces, lost 15 billion KRW in national funds. This is a national disgrace caused by reckless budget execution."

Lee emphasized, "Public budgets require that organizations receiving education funds return them if they violate usage and procedures or use them arbitrarily, and even face charges of obstruction of business. Along with claims for return, audits must be conducted to restore disrupted public service discipline."

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Provincial Council will hold a special budget and settlement committee meeting until the 20th to review the supplementary budget proposals of Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education.

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