Partial Cancellation of Gwangju Buk-gu's 'Hometown Love Fund Project'

4 Project Cuts Fail to Pass Council Threshold

"Overlap with Existing Projects, Lack of Purpose"

The Hometown Love Fund project in Buk-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City has been significantly reduced. Of the 10 fund projects planned for next year, 4 were either canceled or had their budgets cut in half due to overlapping with existing projects or lack of clear purpose.

On the 19th at 10 a.m., the Buk-gu Council finalized an amendment to cut 60 million won from four projects in the fund operation plan submitted by the district at the 3rd plenary session of the 2nd regular meeting of the 290th session.

Specifically, the 'Healthy Living in the 100-Year Era! Barefoot Walking Promotion' project (25 million won) under the Parks and Greenery Division was canceled as it did not align with the purpose and intent of the Hometown Love Fund.

This project involved creating a barefoot path on the playground of Ilgok Middle School in Buk-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, which BTS member J-Hope, who drew attention by donating 5 million won from the Hometown Love Fund, attended. It is expected to be promoted next year using the general budget.

The 'Smart Life Support for Information-Vulnerable Groups' project (15 million won) by the Data Information Division was abolished due to significant overlap with the ongoing 'Love Green PC Distribution Project.'

The 'Find Buk-gu’s Writers! Buk-gu Mudeung Literary Award Operation' project by the Culture and Arts Division had its budget cut in half from 30 million won to 15 million won.

The 'Disability Welfare Card ONE, Please Come Only Once' project planned by the Disability Welfare Division was also finalized with a 50% budget cut to 5 million won.

Go Young-im, chairperson of the Budget and Accounts Committee, explained in a phone interview with this paper, "The Hometown Love Fund is an expression of affection for one’s hometown by those living elsewhere who want to contribute to local development."

Chairperson Go added, "Unlike general projects, it is important to discover distinctive projects that resonate with donors of the Hometown Love Fund. From this perspective, there were regrettable aspects in the district office’s fund operation plan, making revisions inevitable."

In response, a district official said, "Facing a tax revenue cliff and a shortage of general budget, there was also an aspect of trying to promote projects using the Hometown Love Fund."

However, the official lamented, "The Fund Operation Deliberation Committee, composed of experts, reached a conclusion after in-depth discussions, so it is regrettable that the council drastically cut the budget in a way that feels like obstruction."

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