Elderly Meal Budget Cut... Residents Cry Out in Grief

Seoul District Mayors Face Project Cancellation Crisis Due to Budget Obstruction by District Councils

Yeongdeungpo-gu, Mapo-gu, Dongdaemun-gu Recently Saw Significant Cuts in Supplementary Budgets, Causing Residents to Bear the Brunt and Sparking Criticism

Autonomous District Councils Also Become a Political Battlefield Reflecting Central Politics, with Residents' Voices of Criticism Rising

Seoul district mayors are unable to move forward as they are being held back by their district councils.

Especially, autonomous districts under a situation of minority mayors and majority councils are suffering due to budget obstructions.

Mapo-gu, Yeongdeungpo-gu, and Dongdaemun-gu are examples of such cases.

Recently, the respective district councils have heavily cut budgets targeting the mayors’ campaign projects.

In Mapo-gu, the budgets for the Hyo-do Bapsang (Elderly Meal Service) and the Hongdae Red Road were almost entirely cut.

In Yeongdeungpo-gu, out of a supplementary budget of 160.9 billion KRW, 37.1 billion KRW was cut by the district council. Notably, funds for purchasing tables for senior centers lacking restrooms or for seniors with knee pain were also cut.

Additionally, the budget supporting village buses, which serve as essential transportation for citizens, was cut, putting village bus operations at risk of suspension. Furthermore, out of 50 billion KRW allocated for rebuilding the aging Yeongdeungpo District Office building constructed in 1976, 35 billion KRW was cut.

These three district offices attempted to allocate supplementary budgets to carry out projects for residents, but the budgets were drastically reduced due to political interests.

Accordingly, these autonomous districts have issued press releases appealing to residents about the unfairness and grievances they face.

In some districts, cultural organizations have staged picket protests to inform residents about the district councils’ unfair actions and to express their opposition.

One district mayor stated, “Autonomous district administration is closely related to residents’ daily lives, not central politics, but due to outdated practices modeled after central political behavior, residents end up suffering the consequences.”

In particular, it appears that local members of the National Assembly mobilized district council members to instruct them to block the mayors’ projects, leading to drastic budget cuts, leaving the mayors frustrated and helpless.

Some district offices are expected to reallocate supplementary budgets and make another attempt.

As local politics becomes a mere replica of central politics, the unfortunate reality is that the residents ultimately bear the damage.

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