[2022 National Audit] Kim Dong-yeon "Review Sewol Ferry Support Budget and Increase War Veteran Honor Allowance"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon is attending the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit of Gyeonggi Province on the 14th, responding to questions from lawmakers.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, announced that he will examine whether the Sewol ferry disaster support budget was used lawfully. He also promised to raise the honorarium for war veterans next year.

On the 14th, during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee’s audit of Gyeonggi Province, Kim responded to the claim by Seo Byung-soo, a member of the People Power Party (Ulsan Ulju-gun), that part of the Sewol ferry disaster support budget was spent on unrelated private organizations or projects, saying, "We will review whether the subsidies to private organizations were executed more in line with the project objectives," and added, "We will also prepare measures regarding victim support and projects in Ansan City."

On the same day, Rep. Seo stated, "The Sewol ferry disaster support budget is the people's tax money and should not go into the pockets of private organizations under the pretext of community recovery,"

claiming, "According to the Sewol Ferry Disaster Victim Support Act, there have been support projects totaling 11 billion KRW since 2017, but some of the funds were allocated as subsidies to private organizations."

He further pointed out, "In 2020, out of a total project budget of 2 billion KRW, 740 million KRW was paid as subsidies to private organizations," and criticized, "Among 36 public contest projects, only 9 projects aligned with the law’s purpose, while the remaining 27 projects supported civic and private organizations unrelated to the Sewol ferry disaster."

Governor Kim also responded to the criticism from Kang Dae-sik of the People Power Party (Daegu Dong-gu Eul), who said, "Gyeonggi Province has 56,000 veterans, accounting for more than one-fifth of the national total, but the honorarium for war veterans in Gyeonggi is lower compared to other regions," by stating, "We plan to raise it again in 2023."

Kim elaborated, "In Gyeonggi Province, the honorarium for veterans has been continuously increased to 260,000 KRW per person this year, doubling compared to 2018, but since the base amount was low at the start, the current amount seems small."

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