Gyeonggi Provincial Council Faces Budget Cut Controversy Over Yongin 'Disabled VR Sports Experience Center'

Standing Committee Cuts Support Budget Citing 'Regional Bias'
Yongin Mayor Sang-il Lee: "Ignoring Disabled... Will Proceed Independently"

There are concerns about setbacks in the 'Virtual Reality (VR) Sports Experience Center for the Disabled' project that Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province, planned to establish in the old vehicle registration office building this December. Although the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education promised budget support, the recent full budget cut by the Gyeonggi Provincial Council has caused the issue.

According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Council and Yongin City on the 26th, the council recently cut the entire 200 million KRW budget allocated by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education for the construction of the 'Disabled VR Sports Experience Center' in Yongin.

This center is a project selected through a public contest by the Korea Disabled Sports Association. Yongin City was recently chosen as a target site along with Busan City and Mokpo City in Jeollanam-do. Since then, the city signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Disabled Sports Association and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education and has been pushing forward with the project aiming for an opening in December. The city is providing the old vehicle registration office building in Cheoin-gu as the center location, the Disabled Sports Association is preparing related facilities with a budget of 300 million KRW, and the provincial office of education agreed to support 200 million KRW for related equipment and educational content.

In particular, after winning the contest, the city allocated an additional 100 million KRW in the supplementary budget for installing disabled restrooms and repairing the building’s exterior and interior to ensure the smooth construction of the center. The city also plans to expand the center’s functions by establishing a 'Physical Fitness Certification Center' that prescribes customized exercise programs for the disabled.

However, the provincial council reportedly cut the entire 200 million KRW support budget set by the provincial office of education at the relevant standing committee meeting held on the 20th, citing 'regional bias' as the reason.

The city is strongly protesting the budget cut. Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il stated, "If the provincial council does not restore the support budget, we will open the experience center independently together with the Disabled Sports Association."

The mayor criticized, "In a situation where there is great local community expectation for the first experience center to be built in Gyeonggi Province, it is a very irresponsible act to lead the budget cut from a partisan and narrow perspective by the Democratic Party members, including the chairperson of the provincial council’s standing committee."

Criticism from disability organizations is also mounting. The Korea Deaf Sports Federation, Gyeonggi Physical Disability Welfare Association Yongin Branch, Korea Disabled Culture Association Yongin Branch, Firefly Corporation, and Gyeonggi Disabled Welfare Association Yongin Branch have all issued statements urging countermeasures.

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