Sim Cheol, Gwangju City Council Member: "City Local Subsidy Operation Manual Ineffective"

Sim Cheol, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Democratic Party of Korea·Seo-gu 4), pointed out that the local subsidy operation manual of Gwangju City is ineffective.

On the 13th, during the administrative audit of the Culture and Sports Office, Councilor Sim criticized, "The management of the 'Integrated Public Offering Project for Performing Arts Promotion,' which receives 2 billion KRW annually, is very poor."

The Integrated Public Offering Project for Performing Arts Promotion is a project that grants local subsidies ranging from a minimum of 10 million KRW to a maximum of 120 million KRW to non-profit private organizations and corporations active in the performing arts sector with an address in Gwangju Metropolitan City. This year, a total of 85 organizations were selected, with a budget of 2.2 billion KRW invested.

Councilor Sim stated, "An organization A, which operates a theater festival receiving the maximum amount of 120 million KRW, is also violating the standards of the local subsidy manual of Gwangju City and the local subsidy usage guidelines distributed to the support project recipients," adding, "The problem lies not only with organization A but also with Gwangju City, which failed to thoroughly review the local subsidy grant applications."

He also pointed out, "The labor costs paid by organization A to the artistic groups participating in the theater festival far exceed the special payment standards for artistic groups, which are higher than general labor costs," and criticized, "It is also problematic that during the COVID-19 period in 2022, they invited 12 overseas performance groups and used a budget of 20 million KRW."

According to Councilor Sim, organization A, which has been operating the theater festival for the 19th time, recruited five groups on the condition of providing a participation support fund of 2.5 million KRW, then awarded a prize of 5 million KRW to one group through evaluation. Additionally, they spent 4 million KRW on video production costs, which are service-type expenses not allowed to be covered by local subsidies.

Councilor Sim said, "According to the manual, in principle, prize money cannot be paid with local subsidies, but it can be allocated after confirming approval from the local government," adding, "However, according to the department in charge, there was no discussion between organization A and the department regarding this matter."

He continued, "All these issues stem from the negligence of the staff who were unfamiliar with the manual and laws," and criticized, "According to the Local Subsidy Act, subsidy recipients who receive more than 300 million KRW must have their settlement reports verified by an auditor, but organization A, despite receiving nearly 200 million KRW annually, has no record of such verification."

He further stated, "Since private organizations carrying out subsidy projects cannot be expected to fully understand all laws and manuals, the city must review, select, and inspect target organizations based on clear standards," and added, "Any parts of the public offering project settlement details that violate laws or regulations must be recovered, and an audit request should be made to the Audit Office regarding the related matters."

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