"90% of Local Governments Prioritize Local Currency"...Democrats Launch Full Restoration of Local Budgets

Democratic Party Emergency Meeting on Local Government Measures
Lee: "Does the Government Understand Local Financial Difficulties?"
"We Will Reduce Local Education Tax and Grant Cuts to Zero"

The Democratic Party of Korea has launched efforts to fully restore next year's local government budgets, which the government drastically cut. As ruling and opposition parties engage in behind-the-scenes negotiations over the next year's budget bill, a survey revealed that local government heads and council members nationwide prioritize restoring the budget for issuing local love gift certificates, known as the 'Lee Jae-myung budget,' sparking a public opinion campaign to increase the budget.

On the 27th, the Democratic Party held an 'Emergency Countermeasure Meeting for Democratic Local Governments to Resolve the Fiscal Collapse of the Yoon Seok-yeol Government' at the Yeouido Democratic Party headquarters, launching an all-out offensive against the government's cuts to next year's local budgets.

At the meeting, Party Leader Lee Jae-myung criticized, "It is doubtful whether the government and ruling party are aware of or concerned about the financial difficulties faced by local governments, or if they truly understand the extent of these hardships." He added, "While the central government may have some ways to resolve the issues, local governments are in a structurally difficult position to solve these problems on their own," and pointed out, "The difficulties caused by the local fiscal crisis ultimately translate into hardships for the residents."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Democratic Party's urgent local government countermeasure meeting to resolve the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's 'local fiscal crisis' held at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul on the 27th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Lee said, "Local governments are facing multiple challenges not only due to population decline but also because of worsening economic conditions, and on top of that, financial difficulties have been imposed." He evaluated, "It was already anticipated that government finances would worsen due to the economic downturn, but by pursuing tax cuts, the government’s finances have become strained, which in turn has severely impacted local government finances."

Floor Leader Hong Ik-pyo harshly criticized the government’s budget proposal, calling it "a budget that abandons the nation's future, destroys local governments, gives up on the regional economy, and neglects local residents." He pointed out, "Even the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations introduced and adjusted local consumption taxes to compensate for reduced local tax revenues, but the Yoon Seok-yeol government, facing the worst tax revenue shortage, has not presented any measures."

The meeting was attended by Democratic Party-affiliated current and former local government heads, including Kim Kwan-young, Governor of Jeonbuk Province; Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong District, Seoul; and Park Jeong-hyun, Supreme Council member. Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung and Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok also participated via video conference.

Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung lamented, "The government is increasing welfare budgets such as for disabled care and senior citizen job allowances, raising local government burdens without any consultation." Jeonbuk Governor Kim Kwan-young criticized, "Jeollabuk-do must cut 316.7 billion won, and cities and counties must cut 900.4 billion won, totaling 1.2 trillion won. The government’s consistent lack of measures regarding national tax shortages is accelerating the extinction of local governments."

"Lee wants local currency restored"…Opposition builds case for budget increase

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Democratic Party's urgent local government countermeasure meeting to resolve the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's 'local fiscal collapse' held at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 27th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

A survey also revealed a strong nationwide demand for restoring the 'Lee Jae-myung local currency' budget. Jung Won-oh, Chair of the Democratic Party’s Good Local Government Committee and Mayor of Seongdong District, introduced the results of a recent survey of 713 local government heads and council members nationwide on 'priority restoration of livelihood budgets,' where 87.8% (626 respondents) prioritized 'support for issuing local love gift certificates.' He also proposed ▲priority restoration of livelihood budget increases ▲central government support for basic allowances for community leaders ▲payment of unallocated local grants in the 2023 budget.

Particularly, Seo Sam-seok, a member of the National Assembly’s Budget and Accounts Special Committee attending the meeting, emphasized, "Local education tax and local education finance grants have been cut by 15.4 trillion won, or 10.2%, compared to the previous year, which is an unacceptable figure," and pledged, "I will restore this figure to zero." He added, "We will do our utmost to support local finances. Currently, the amount we have cut is only about 610 billion won, but myself and Whip Kang Hoon-sik will work hard to resolve the concerns of local governments and ensure the welfare of the people."

The Yoon Seok-yeol government, immediately after its inauguration, completely cut the approximately 600 billion won budget for 'local love gift certificates' included in this year’s budget prepared by the previous administration, but due to Democratic Party opposition, about 350 billion won was reinstated. This year as well, the government submitted a budget proposal with the related budget of 352.5 billion won completely cut to zero, but the Democratic Party again significantly increased it to 700 billion won through a unilateral resolution in the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader, along with other attendees, are taking a commemorative photo at the Democratic Party's urgent local government countermeasure meeting held on the 27th at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, addressing the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's 'local fiscal crisis resolution.' Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Meanwhile, from this day, ruling and opposition parties have started operating a closed subcommittee within the Budget Subcommittee, known as the 'small small committee,' continuing the tug-of-war over next year’s budget bill. The legal deadline for passing the budget is the 2nd of next month, but it seems unlikely to be met. Key issues include research and development (R&D) budgets, special activity expenses for prosecution and investigative agencies, nuclear power and renewable energy budgets, and the local currency budget known as the 'Lee Jae-myung budget.'

The budget bill must be submitted to the plenary session scheduled for two days starting on the 30th to be processed within the deadline, but the Democratic Party has announced it will push forward with an impeachment motion against Broadcasting and Communications Commission Chairman Lee Dong-gwan, making the convening of the plenary session uncertain. The People Power Party insists that since the scheduled session is for budget approval, they cannot hold a plenary session for a politically motivated impeachment motion without a budget agreement.

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