How Will Dongdaemun-gu Mayor I Pil-hyung Handle Projects in the 2nd Year of the 8th Term?

123 Billion KRW Cut from Supplementary Budget, Resident Welfare Projects Hampered by District Council

General Account Budget of 125.6 Billion KRW Submitted... 12.3 Billion KRW Cut from Resident Welfare Project Budgets

Full Cuts to Crime Prevention CCTV and Senior Center Facility Improvements... 55 Million KRW Approved for District Council Website Operation

Full Cuts to National and District Matching Fund Projects Put at Risk the Return of 150 Million KRW in Hard-to-Secure External Funds

Dongdaemun-gu Mayor Lee Pil-hyung has faced difficulties in his second year of the 8th local government term due to obstruction from the district council.

On June 23, Dongdaemun-gu announced that the 2023 first supplementary budget proposal submitted to the district council, with a general account of 125.6 billion KRW, was finally reflected as only 113.3 billion KRW after reviews by the standing committee on June 15 and the budget and settlement committee on June 21, resulting in a total cut of 12.3 billion KRW in project budgets.

The 12.3 billion KRW cut includes project funds for ▲installation of crime prevention CCTV ▲maintenance of parks, forest trails, and green belts ▲improvements to aging senior centers ▲creation of a small business support center, putting a brake on Dongdaemun-gu’s efforts to enhance resident welfare in the second half of the year.

In particular, the operating budget of 100 million KRW for the ‘Carbon Neutral Support Center,’ a core part of the ‘2050 Carbon Neutral Dongdaemun-gu Creation’ project aimed at overcoming the global climate and energy crisis through a 50:50 national and district matching fund project, and the 50 million KRW operating budget for the ‘Creative Arts Education Lab,’ which analyzes and derives solutions for Dongdaemun-gu’s green space shortage from various perspectives such as art and history, were both fully cut. This puts at risk the return of 150 million KRW in external funds that were difficult to secure through public contests.

Meanwhile, the 55 million KRW budget for operating the district council’s website was approved as originally proposed, raising doubts about whether the district council is properly fulfilling its role as representatives of the residents in promoting their welfare and happiness.

Additionally, the following budgets were fully cut by the district council’s budget and settlement committee: ▲50 million KRW for creating an ‘Ecological Learning Center’ to provide a resting place for residents before the construction of the Seoul Metropolitan Library (Dongdaemun) ▲7 million KRW for operating the ‘Neighborhood Knock Activity Team’ to identify at-risk households and prevent tragic incidents to eliminate welfare blind spots ▲50 million KRW for establishing a ‘Beauty Salon Exclusively for the Disabled’ accessible to wheelchair users, benchmarking the Nowon-gu case ▲approximately 700 million KRW for ‘School Route Improvement’ projects to ensure children’s safety, including in front of the ‘Bapper’ facility ▲80 million KRW for remodeling the aging Hwikyung 2-dong district senior center.

Although not fully cut, the ‘Cooling Cost Budget’ supporting vulnerable groups with 100,000 KRW per person amid the worst expected heatwave this summer was cut by 1.31 billion KRW out of 1.405 billion KRW, and the ‘Youth Administrative Intern Support Project’ budget, which supports young people in gaining work experience through public institution administrative internships, was reduced by 21 million KRW out of 74 million KRW, making smooth project operation practically difficult.

Mayor Lee Pil-hyung of Dongdaemun-gu said, “The budgets submitted in this supplementary budget are all necessary to carry out projects for the convenience and welfare enhancement of Dongdaemun-gu residents. Although these projects are not pursued for the personal achievements of the mayor or the performance of public officials, I felt this time that the district council tends to handle budget reviews directly related to residents’ lives based on their political interests or personal emotions.” He added, “Although a significant portion of the resident-focused project budgets submitted by the executive branch was cut, we will not lose momentum. Together with all Dongdaemun-gu staff, we will once again cooperate with the district council and do our best to carry out what we can for the happiness of the residents.”

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