Kim Hyun-gi, Chairman of Seoul Metropolitan Council, "One Year of Normalizing the Abnormal..."

Chairman Kim Hyun-gi: “One Year of Normalizing the Abnormal... Resolutely Eliminating Inefficiencies That Shackled Citizen Safety, Happiness, and Seoul’s Development”

Regular Session Held for 24 Days from June 12 to July 5, Processing a Total of 215 Agenda Items Including 2022 Settlement and 2023 Supplementary Budget

Chairman Kim: “Laid the Foundation for a Major Shift to Normalization of City Administration and Educational Administration Over the Past Year, Marking the Beginning of the Second Year’s Maturation of the Council”

Strict Application of the ‘Three No Principles’ to Eliminate Budgets That Are Unnecessary, Have Unclear Execution Purposes, or Lack Transparent Project Effects

Urged Inspection of Seoul’s Flood Prevention and Heatwave Measures, Mentioned the Need for Improvement in Education Office Budgeting and Educational Finance Reform

The Seoul Metropolitan Council (Chairman Kim Hyun-gi) will hold the 319th regular session from June 12 to July 5, 2023, over a period of 24 days.

A total of 215 agenda items, including the 2022 settlement and the 2023 supplementary budget, will be reviewed and resolved.

In particular, this regular session will extend the plenary sessions from one day to two days to allow for more in-depth deliberations on agenda items.

Plenary sessions will be held on June 28 and July 5 respectively to conduct thorough reviews of the agenda items discussed and submitted by the standing committees.

In his opening remarks, Chairman Kim Hyun-gi stated that since the start of the 11th Council, all 112 council members have been on the path of “normalizing the abnormal,” as promised in the pledge to “set the council straight.” He emphasized the firm elimination of inefficiencies that shackled citizen safety, happiness, and Seoul’s development.

He specifically mentioned the strict application of the so-called “three no principles” ? eliminating budgets that are unnecessary, have unclear execution purposes, or lack transparent project effects ? to Seoul city administration and educational administration.

He highlighted that bold incorporation of citizen opinions was made in the operation of traffic broadcasting and community projects, and that warnings were sounded regarding budget management at Seoul City University, Seoul Social Service Institute, and the Workers’ Welfare Center.

Furthermore, to prevent the decline of basic academic skills, which are fundamental rights and human rights of children, the council immediately launched the “Seoul Education Academic Improvement Special Committee,” secured a budget for developing basic academic diagnostic tools, and simultaneously enacted an ordinance to guarantee basic academic skills.

Chairman Kim stated, “The normalization that the council must pursue is still incomplete. We must strongly drive forward to protect the peaceful lives of 10 million Seoul citizens and ensure a bright future. In this 319th regular session, we must carefully and clearly review the 2022 settlement, this year’s supplementary budget, and a total of 215 ordinances related to people’s livelihoods to meet citizens’ demands.”

Additionally, Chairman Kim urged the Seoul Mayor to strengthen policies accompanying the vulnerable, especially in disasters, and to take last summer’s worst disaster as a lesson to meticulously inspect flood prevention and cooling realities for vulnerable housing groups such as semi-basements, shantytowns, and gosiwon (small rooms) this summer.

He also requested the reorganization of disaster alert messages and improvements to evacuation shelters. Chairman Kim emphasized that there can be no gaps in crisis response directly related to safety and that disaster-related ordinances will be reviewed. He stressed the need to promptly revise systems and manuals to ensure that six essential questions (who, what, when, where, why, how) are properly conveyed in warning alerts. He also mentioned the necessity to calculate appropriate shelter capacity and stock minimum emergency supplies accordingly.

Other requests included preparing countermeasures for the reverse lease crisis, innovative ideas and strong drive for urban development, minimizing populist welfare, fundamental measures to change citizens’ perceptions to increase birth rates, and re-examining Seoul’s smart city policies such as Metaverse Seoul.

To the Seoul Superintendent of Education, Chairman Kim said, “School violence is a malignant crime,” and urged the preparation of comprehensive measures to protect victims who suffer more due to administrative lawsuits and appeals that delay disciplinary actions by the School Violence Committee.

He particularly raised his voice on the need to improve the education office’s budget formulation and educational finance reform. He pointed out that the supplementary budget proposal to reduce over 60 billion won due to a miscalculation after prematurely reflecting net surplus before settlement, despite the education office’s execution balance exceeding 10% in the 2022 fiscal year, is evidence of haphazard financial management and called for strict budget formulation.

He also stated that institutional improvements for educational finance reform must be undertaken. While the Seoul Education Office’s debt ratio is in the 2% range, Seoul city’s debt increased by 1.12 trillion won compared to the previous year. He emphasized that the current situation, where Seoul City Hall is financially strained but the Seoul Education Office has surplus funds, is not a normal allocation of resources.

He said that legal amendments are needed so that surplus funds in education can flow into local general finances, and that both institutions should jointly request this from the central government.

This regular session will begin with an opening ceremony at 2 p.m. on June 12, followed by three days of questions regarding Seoul city administration and educational administration from June 13. From June 16 to 23 and July 3 to 4, standing committees will review various agenda items related to their respective departments over a total of eight days. The Budget and Accounts Special Committee will operate for four days from June 26 to 27 and June 29 to 30.

Opening Remarks

319th Regular Session. June 12, 2023 -

Respected citizens of Seoul!

Mayor, Superintendent of Education, and 100,000 public officials!

And fellow and senior council members!

<‘Normalization of the Abnormal’ ? One Year of Major Transition>

Last July, when I opened the 11th Council,

I promised to “set the council straight.”

Over the past year, all 112 council members

have run the path of “normalizing the abnormal” as sternly commanded by public sentiment.

We resolutely eliminated inefficiencies that shackled

citizen safety, happiness, and Seoul’s development.

We strictly applied the so-called “three no principles” ?

eliminating budgets that are unnecessary, have unclear execution purposes, or lack transparent project effects ?

to Seoul city administration and educational administration.

We boldly incorporated citizen opinions into the operation of traffic broadcasting and community projects.

We sounded warnings regarding budget management at Seoul City University, Seoul Social Service Institute, and the Workers’ Welfare Center.

We also embarked on a major reform of Seoul education.

The decline in basic academic skills, which are children’s fundamental rights and human rights, was a red flag for public education.

The council immediately launched the “Seoul Education Academic Improvement Special Committee”

and secured a budget for developing basic academic diagnostic tools.

Evaluations are scheduled for the second half of this year.

At the same time, we enacted an ordinance to guarantee basic academic skills.

We also demanded correction of wasteful budget formulation.

We laid the foundation for normalization of city administration and educational administration.

However, the normalization we must pursue is still incomplete.

Respected council members!

The second year of the council is the true time of the council.

The 319th regular session opening today

marks the beginning of the maturation of the 11th Council.

We must carefully and clearly review the 2022 settlement and this year’s supplementary budget of the city hall and education office,

and a total of 215 ordinances related to people’s livelihoods to meet citizens’ demands.

We must protect the peaceful lives of 10 million citizens

and strongly drive forward for a bright future.

First, I propose to the Mayor of Seoul.

① Urban Safety: Seoul’s Flood Prevention and Heatwave Measures

There is no such thing as excess in disaster response.

Policies accompanying the vulnerable must operate even more strongly in disasters.

Taking last summer’s worst disaster as a lesson,

we urge meticulous inspection of flood prevention and cooling realities for vulnerable housing groups such as semi-basements, shantytowns, and gosiwon.

Seoul’s first-ever flood warning and alert system

must also be carefully managed to prevent malfunctions.

② Urban Security: Reorganization of Disaster Alert Messages

In the early morning of May 31,

disaster messages lacking specificity caused confusion among citizens,

and responsibility disputes among agencies over false alarms worsened the chaos.

There can be no gaps in crisis response directly related to safety.

One mistake is an accident, two is a failure.

The council will review disaster-related ordinances.

Systems and manuals must be promptly revised to ensure six essential questions (who, what, when, where, why, how) are properly conveyed in warning alerts.

The Seoul Education Office must also prepare strengthened disaster evacuation drills for elementary, middle, and high schools that can be practically applied in emergencies.

③ Evacuation Shelters: Calculating Appropriate Capacity and Stocking Emergency Supplies

We examined the status of evacuation shelters.

The underground parking lot of Helio City in Songpa-gu is said by Seoul city to accommodate evacuation of 396,893 people.

But can hundreds of thousands really evacuate there?

396,000 is almost the entire population of Yeongdeungpo-gu.

The shelter capacity was calculated at 1.21 persons per square meter of underground area.

Whether cars are parked in the parking lot was not considered.

Evacuation may last several days.

Is it reasonable to assume 4 persons per pyeong (3.3 square meters) for several days?

Appropriate shelter capacity must be calculated, and minimum emergency supplies stocked. We request a comprehensive re-examination and improvement.

④ Reverse Lease Crisis: Demand for Realistic Measures to Alleviate the Desperate Difficulties of Ordinary Citizens

Concerns about the reverse lease crisis are growing in the second half of this year.

The media reports that tens of thousands of at-risk houses exist in Seoul,

mentioning specific areas.

We must prepare response plans for various scenarios now.

We ask for wisdom to devise realistic measures to alleviate the desperate difficulties of ordinary citizens.

⑤ Urban Development: Demand for Innovative Ideas and Strong Drive

Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills marks its 20th anniversary this year.

It is credited with revitalizing the fading Tokyo.

Statistics show a cumulative 600 million visitors.

Tokyo plans to complete a large-scale project called “Azabudai Hills” in Minato Ward this year.

Competing cities like New York are introducing the concept of “air rights” and continuously creating compact cities combining residence, work, culture, and shopping in urban centers.

Harvard Professor Glazer’s diagnosis that high-density urban development is actually eco-friendly is gaining sympathy.

Seoul must also showcase innovative ideas and strong drive.

⑥ Welfare Reform: Minimizing Populist Welfare

The central government is initiating welfare reform.

Statistics show about 1,000 welfare programs in central ministries and 10,000 in local governments.

There is social consensus to increase efficiency through consolidation.

Minimizing populist welfare and emphasizing productive welfare is gaining momentum.

Seoul city must actively consider this area.

⑦ Birth Rate: Demand for Fundamental Change in Citizen Awareness

Recent surveys by Seoul National University Asia Institute and others on 15 major global cities found Seoul ranked first in the proportion of respondents who said “children are more a burden than a joy.”

Life satisfaction was also low.

Seoul faces the risk of extinction.

In a city where the burden of raising children outweighs the joy,

a dramatic turnaround in birth rates is unlikely.

Fundamental measures to change citizen awareness must be prepared.

⑧ Smart Innovation: Re-examining Seoul’s Smart City Policies

“Metaverse Seoul,” into which Seoul city invested 2 billion won,

has seen its average daily visitors plummet to 273.

It is a case of tax waste following a trend.

It is one of the representative “three no” budget policies with unclear effects.

Seoul’s Global Smart City Index (SCI) fell to 28th place, losing even the top domestic spot to Busan.

This is not unrelated.

We must seriously consider ways to regain Seoul’s status and appeal.

To the Seoul Superintendent of Education, I say:

⑨ School Safety: Demand for Victim Protection Measures Against School Violence

School violence is a malignant crime.

Nevertheless, the reality of safety in schools is going backward.

Administrative lawsuits and appeals that delay disciplinary actions by the School Violence Committee are rampant,

leaving deeper scars on victims (according to Councilor Jeon Byung-ju’s data).

Comprehensive victim protection measures are required.

Immediate and effective responses are urged.

⑩ Need for Improvement in Budget Formulation

The education office’s regrettable financial management was clearly revealed again in the 2022 settlement.

The execution balance for the 2022 fiscal year was 1.5 trillion won, exceeding 10% of the budget amount.

How could the budget be formulated to exceed 10% execution balance in education budgets, which are special accounts with two-thirds of expenditures being personnel costs?

Immediate improvement is necessary.

The Seoul Education Office is a financially sound institution with 2.3 trillion won in cash and cash equivalents,

and 1.5 trillion won in short-term financial products.

Despite this surplus, it violated principles by prematurely reflecting net surplus before settlement and then submitted a supplementary budget proposal to reduce over 60 billion won due to miscalculation.

This is evidence of haphazard financial management.

Strict budget formulation is required.

⑪ Need for Educational Finance Reform

It has become common knowledge that the education office has surplus funds. The Board of Audit and Inspection announced that over the past three years, 43 trillion won of local education finance grants were spent unnecessarily.

Institutional improvements for educational finance reform are an urgent task.

I oppose sending local education finance grants to higher education or central government.

Instead, surplus funds in education should flow into local general finances.

The Seoul Education Office’s debt ratio is in the 2% range,

only one-tenth of the debt ratio of Samsung Electronics, the top domestic company.

Meanwhile, Seoul city’s debt increased by 1.12 trillion won compared to the previous year according to the 2022 settlement.

The current situation where Seoul City Hall is financially strained but the Seoul Education Office has surplus funds

is not a normal allocation of resources.

Both institutions should jointly request legal amendments from the central government along with the council.

Fellow and senior council members!

In difficult times, our elders used to say, “The sound of water flowing into my rice field and the sound of rice going down my child’s throat are the most pleasant to hear.”

Poet Im Tae-ju recalls in “Mother’s Letter”

“It was hard when you were born, but after giving birth, it was dear and comforting. My duty was fulfilled by cooking and feeding you.”

And the mother says, “I don’t wish for you to live proudly. I hope you live comfortably and as your heart desires without hardship.” She adds, “Don’t pity my life. I want to leave words I’ve never said alive. Thank you for coming as my child.”

A world where many people are thankful to be children and grateful to be mothers.

That is the Seoul and Korea we hope for.

Reflections on Seoul’s birth rate of 0.59.

Let us share a public sense of responsibility and work together with all our strength.

Thank you.

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