Gyeongbuk Provincial Assembly Member Im Gi-jin: "Public Service Society Must Eradicate Unfair Practices Like 'Department Head Hosting Day' and 'Sibotteok'"

Administrative Welfare Committee Inspection Points Out
Nationwide Lowest Rate of Parental Leave

The Administrative, Health, and Welfare Committee of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council (Chairman Kwon Gwang-taek) conducted the 2024 administrative audit on the Saemaul Foundation, the Safety Administration Office, and the Audit Office on the 15th.

During the administrative audit of the Saemaul Foundation, Assemblyman Park Young-seo (People Power Party, Mungyeong) repeatedly pointed out the need to establish a utilization plan for the 30 billion KRW fund but criticized the continued absence of a concrete fund management plan. He also urged a review of the current method of dispersing Saemaul Movement-related projects across multiple countries and called for the development of a plan to maximize project effectiveness through selection and concentration.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Council Administration, Health and Welfare Committee Administrative Audit Scene

Assemblyman Yoon Seung-oh (People Power Party, Yeongcheon) stated that the comprehensive audit of the Saemaul Foundation in the first half of last year revealed various fraudulent activities, resulting in the dismissal of some employees and exposing serious organizational problems. Given that the Saemaul Foundation conducts numerous projects both domestically and internationally, he emphasized the necessity of thorough organizational management alongside preventing recurrence of fraudulent acts.

Assemblyman Hwang Jae-cheol (People Power Party, Yeongdeok) said, “A legal dispute arose due to severance pay conflicts between local staff at overseas offices and the foundation, during which millions of KRW of taxpayers' money were wasted on attorney fees and settlements. However, this incident was not properly reported in the administrative audit materials, reflecting poor submission of documents.” He strongly criticized this and ordered strict management of overseas offices and utmost efforts to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

Assemblyman Baek Soon-chang (People Power Party, Gumi) pointed out that in the Saemaul pilot village development project, livelihood improvement and income increase projects account for about 80% of the total, whereas projects related to raising residents' awareness, capacity building for self-reliance, and establishing regional governance account for less than 10%.

Chairman Kwon Gwang-taek (People Power Party, Andong) highlighted several issues including the inadequacy of administrative audit report materials, the need to establish clear regulations on employee external lectures, and the absence of measures to reduce overseas transportation costs for agricultural machinery. He urged Saemaul Foundation employees to enhance their work capabilities and faithfully fulfill Gyeongbuk’s role as the center of the Saemaul Movement based on a sense of mission and responsibility.

During the administrative audit of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Safety Administration Office, Assemblyman Lim Ki-jin (Democratic Party, Proportional Representation) emphasized that irrational practices such as ‘Day to Serve the Director’ or ‘Sibo Rice Cake’ occurring within the public service must be eradicated. He also pointed out that only about 26.7% of the 28 relevant committees meet gender equality standards and, given that Gyeongbuk has ranked lowest in the gender equality index for over ten years, he called for improvement measures.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Council Member Im Gi-jin of the Democratic Party

Assemblyman Park Young-seo (People Power Party, Mungyeong) pointed out that approximately 27 trillion KRW worth of public property in Gyeongbuk is frequently illegally occupied by private individuals due to poor management. After proposing land sale measures, he ordered systematic and thorough management of Gyeongbuk’s publicly owned properties.

Assemblyman Do Gi-wook (People Power Party, Yecheon) noted that the frequent use of foreign words or abbreviations in official documents or project names in administration may hinder proper information delivery to residents, urging the avoidance of such terminology. He also mentioned the significant decrease in donations to the Hometown Love Donation System compared to last year and requested related proposals to allow local residents and corporations to donate as the allowable donation amount will increase next year. Additionally, he called for measures to increase the hiring rate of disabled public officials.

Assemblyman Yoon Seung-oh (People Power Party, Yeongcheon) criticized that the parental leave rate among Gyeongbuk provincial employees ranks lowest among 17 metropolitan cities and provinces. He stressed that Gyeongbuk, which has proactively addressed the low birthrate issue, must do its best to create a workplace environment conducive to childbearing. He also mentioned the sharp decline in users of the Ttubuk-i app and ordered the establishment of effective promotion and revitalization plans.

Assemblyman Baek Soon-chang (People Power Party, Gumi) pointed out the need to reduce indiscriminate private contracts, which account for about 43% of the total 5,922 contracts in 2024. He also ordered the prompt relocation of electric vehicle charging stations installed in the underground parking lot of the Saemaul Theme Park to the ground level due to fire risk concerns.

Assemblyman Bae Jin-seok (People Power Party, Gyeongju) noted that there are overlapping functions among disaster preparedness organizations such as the Autonomous Disaster Prevention Corps, Volunteer Fire Brigade, Safety Heroes, Safety Guards, and Gyeongbuk Safety Mobile Unit, and that the operating entities differ, resulting in a lack of clear standards for command and roles. He emphasized the need for systematic management of the Gyeongbuk-type disaster response model. He also ordered thorough supervision of the Saemaul Foundation by the relevant department.

Assemblyman Hwang Jae-cheol (People Power Party, Yeongdeok) said that with the decrease in national tax revenue, most safety-related budgets rely on national funds or grants, making budget cuts highly likely. He proposed ways to increase metropolitan finances, such as utilizing lottery funds, and urged the best efforts to secure resources.

Assemblyman Kim Il-soo (People Power Party, Gumi) stated that although the Saemaul Theme Park itself had low visitor numbers, the establishment of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education Maker Education Center significantly increased annual visitors to about 190,000. However, since the Maker Education Center is planning to relocate, he ordered the preparation of activation plans for the Saemaul Theme Park in response. He also emphasized the need for thorough preparation as the Saemaul Movement Central Association’s relocation to Gyeongbuk is underway.

Chairman Kwon Gwang-taek (People Power Party, Andong) pointed out that the number of safe return home streets is relatively low in areas with low crime safety indices such as Pohang, Gumi, and Gyeongsan, emphasizing the need to develop plans to expand these safe return home streets. He also ordered the expansion of education to strengthen the work capabilities and responsibility of employees in investment and contribution institutions as public organizations and the establishment of concrete measures for this.

During the administrative audit of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Audit Office, Assemblyman Bae Jin-seok (People Power Party, Gyeongju) emphasized, “Cases of workplace ostracism, harassment, or extreme choices due to failure to adapt to organizational culture may occur. Since organizational culture is emphasized in the public service, such incidents lower employee morale and cause distrust among residents, so the best efforts to prevent recurrence are necessary.”

Vice Chairman Kim Il-soo (People Power Party, Gumi) expressed concern that the Integrity Resident Auditor group, composed of 184 members?58 recommended by the council, 112 by city and county governments, and 14 selected through open recruitment?has a high proportion of city and county recommendations, which may hinder proper work performance. He ordered an increase in the open recruitment ratio and the development of measures to improve performance.

Chairman Kwon Gwang-taek (People Power Party, Andong) noted that 23 public officials with misconduct were recorded in Gyeongsangbuk-do over the past five years, ranking fourth among 17 metropolitan cities and provinces. Additionally, 17 retired public officials in 2023 and 9 in 2024 were fined for reemployment issues. He ordered measures to strengthen public officials’ integrity awareness and establish public service discipline.

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