Goyang City Administration Halted by Legislative Power... Mayor Lee Dong-hwan Declares "Exercise of Veto Power"

Mayor Lee Announces 'Right to Request Reconsideration' Plan at Expanded Executive Meeting on 25th
Goyang City Council Cuts Budget for Public Welfare, Increases Overseas Training Expenses

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Mayor Lee Dong-hwan of Goyang City announced on the 25th his plan to invoke the 'veto power' in response to the city council's decision to drastically cut the 2023 main budget.

According to Article 120 of the Local Autonomy Act and other provisions, the 'veto power' can be exercised by the head of a local government when a local council's resolution significantly harms the public interest due to overstepping authority or violating laws.

The city council's repeated resolutions specifying amendments and changes to the '2023 budget bill' have been causing tension in Goyang City's political landscape. In particular, this is the first time since Mayor Lee Dong-hwan took office that the 'veto power on the budget bill' policy has emerged, signaling a potential 'all-out conflict' between the city administration and the legislative branch.

On the 25th, Lee Dong-hwan, Mayor of Goyang City, held a press conference and stated, "The city council ruthlessly cut the main budget, prioritizing only emotions and claiming it was the mayor's core policy," adding, "I will exercise the veto power to secure the budget essential for the citizens."
[Photo by Goyang City]

As the city and the council show differing views on major budget items, Mayor Lee's intention to exercise the 'veto power' as a legal authority implies uncertainty over whether the city council will accept it even if the veto is invoked.

At an expanded executive meeting held at the City Hall Cultural Center on the same day, Mayor Lee strongly criticized the city council, saying, "The city council mercilessly cut the main budget with an unreasonable review, driven only by emotions and the reason that it is the mayor's core policy, disregarding common sense."

He continued, "It is irrational and shameless that while the city council cut 90% of the operating expenses for public officials, it increased its own operating expenses and overseas travel expenses for council members, showing a contradictory behavior."

He added, "This is an unprecedented event in the history of local autonomy in the Republic of Korea and is clearly judged to be an act that infringes on the 'public interest,' so I plan to invoke the 'veto power'."

Regarding this, Mayor Lee emphasized, "It is an emotional and unreasonable decision that even breaks the enthusiasm and morale of public officials. I have come to the conclusion that the budget was intentionally cut to hinder the mayor and the executive branch."

If the city requests a reconsideration, the city council must confirm the same resolution with a majority of the total members present and at least two-thirds of the members present.

Goyang City Council held a special session on the 20th to begin a belated review of the budget proposal. However, the budget initially requested by the city was significantly reduced during the standing committee and budget committee review process.
[Image source=Goyang City Council]

Earlier, Goyang City prepared a main budget of 2.9996 trillion won for 2023, but the city council cut a total of 308 items amounting to about 11 billion won, including 24 billion won for 11 key projects of Mayor Lee Dong-hwan and 1.3 billion won for 208 operating expenses.

The city council held a special session on the 20th to belatedly review the budget bill, but the budget initially requested by the city was drastically cut during the standing committee and budget committee review process.

On the other hand, the operating expenses for the council chairpersons, which had initially been cut by about 17 million won, were increased to 170 million won, and the overseas training travel expenses, which had been fully cut, were increased to about 320 million won and passed.

According to the city, among the delayed main budget bills due to the conflict between the People Power Party and the Democratic Party in the city council, the Democratic Party led the restoration of the chairpersons' operating expenses and the city council's overseas training travel expenses through the budget committee.

Other cut budgets include the 'city boundary status survey budget' to restore the rights of Goyang citizens who have endured the Seoul city avoidance facilities, the 'Goyang city master plan reestablishment service budget' which will serve as the basis for designating an economic free zone and preparing for the reconstruction of the aging first-generation new town.

Also included were the 'bio-content strategic investment attraction support budget' to attract strategic industries centered on Ilsan Techno Valley, the 'basic plan service fee for the complex development of underground space around KINTEX,' and the 'Goyang city growth management plan reorganization budget.' Operating expenses for each department were also cut by 90% across the board.

Therefore, Mayor Lee said, "We are facing a situation where we have no choice but to take a more difficult path," and urged the staff to "identify potential problems that may arise from the failure to allocate the budget in advance and do their best to minimize citizen damage."

He also hinted at a policy to "make supplementary budget preparation a regular practice for the first time nationwide to prevent urgent and serious damage."

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