[경기도 National Audit] Kim Dong-yeon "Will Reconsider Goyang City Hall Relocation"... Sim Sang-jung "Should Reject Review"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon is attending and responding at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit of Gyeonggi Province on the 23rd.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon has stated that he will take another look at the relocation project of Goyang City Hall.

On the 23rd, during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee’s audit of Gyeonggi Province held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office, Governor Kim responded to a criticism from Sim Sang-jung, a Justice Party lawmaker representing Goyang Gap, who said, "Goyang City applied to relocate the city hall from Wondang to Baekseok, but Gyeonggi Province should reject this." Kim said, "Since there is also a resident audit request, we will carefully review it."

He added, "About a month ago, when the initial application for the Goyang City Hall relocation arrived, we rejected it by asking for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s feasibility study results. This time, the application has been resubmitted, and we are carefully reviewing it."

During the Gyeonggi Province audit, lawmaker Sim Sang-jung argued, "Goyang City’s application to relocate the city hall violates both the Local Autonomy Act and the Local Finance Act. When carrying out such a project, it should be done through ordinances or budget deliberations. Public office relocations require a majority approval from the local council and an amendment of the ordinance, but Goyang City did not consult the city council nor follow the budget establishment procedures, arrogantly requesting the review, so Gyeonggi Province should reject it."

She also raised her voice, saying, "During the process of conducting a service for the investment review application, Gyeonggi Province issued a notice stating that since it violated the Local Finance Act and Local Accounting Act according to the audit, it should be properly processed through the city council’s budget review. However, Goyang City claimed it was illegal to use common institutional expenses and instead paid the service fee by using contingency funds, thus not complying with the Gyeonggi Province audit results."

She emphasized, "Residents are currently filing a lawsuit for non-compliance following the resident audit request, and Goyang City has also filed a constitutional court jurisdictional dispute and a provisional injunction against the Gyeonggi Province audit results. Therefore, the investment review application, which is currently under litigation, can be rejected."

Furthermore, she stressed, "Just a month ago, the application was rejected because the feasibility study was not completed. According to the review regulations, ad hoc reviews are only conducted when deemed particularly necessary. Given the legal violations, non-compliance with audit results, and ongoing litigation, this Goyang City Hall relocation review request should be rejected."

She lamented, "Goyang City, which has grown into a metropolitan city with a population of 1.08 million, passed the investment review in 2021 to relocate its 40-year-old city hall, lifting the Green Belt and completing an international design competition, with 6.8 billion KRW of citizens’ tax money invested. If the relocation site changes every time the mayor changes, does that mean the city hall must be moved every time there is a new mayor?"

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