Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijung: "Early Supplementary Budget and Expansionary Fiscal Policy Needed"

Attending Provincial Governors' Association... Discussing Measures for Stabilizing People's Livelihood

Kang Kijeong, mayor of Gwangju (second from right), attended the 60th Korea Association of City and Provincial Governors General Assembly held in the conference room of the Seoul City and Provincial Governors Association on the afternoon of the 17th, and took a commemorative photo before the meeting. Provided by Gwangju City

The governors of South Korea's cities and provinces are uniting their voices to call on the government and National Assembly for an early supplementary budget and expansionary fiscal policy, taking the lead in stabilizing people's livelihoods.

On the 17th, Kang Gijung, Mayor of Gwangju, stated at the 60th general meeting held in the conference room of the Seoul Association of City and Provincial Governors, "As the economic situation is expected to worsen due to shrinking consumer sentiment, an early supplementary budget and expansionary fiscal policy are absolutely necessary," and announced that this was agreed upon by the association.

Previously, Mayor Kang instructed the preparation of strategies to secure an early supplementary budget for stabilizing livelihoods and consultations with central government ministries in preparation for next year's supplementary budget, focusing administrative efforts on these tasks.

At the association meeting, after reporting on the agenda, the city and provincial governors discussed response measures for stabilizing people's livelihoods and revitalizing the regional economy in light of the recent imposition of martial law and impeachment crisis, which have dampened consumption and investment and increased difficulties for small business owners and the self-employed. They also issued a joint statement.

The association released the "Joint Statement of South Korean City and Provincial Governors for Stabilizing Livelihoods and Revitalizing the Regional Economy," urging, "As strong economic recovery policies are needed, please promptly arrange a supplementary budget, execute fiscal spending swiftly, relax regulations, and implement expansionary fiscal policies to stabilize people's livelihoods." They also advocated for the promotion of regional revitalization policies such as lifting greenbelt restrictions in non-capital regions and establishing Opportunity Development Zones to ensure that policies for the era of local autonomy can be implemented without setbacks.

At the meeting, Gwangju City proposed an amendment to the Road Traffic Act to allow city and provincial governors to impose and collect fines for traffic violations, so that these funds could be used as financial resources for operating autonomous police. This is in response to the situation where, since the implementation of the autonomous police system in 2021, the budget for autonomous police has been established by city and provincial governors and the installation and operation of unmanned traffic enforcement equipment has been transferred to local governments, but due to lack of follow-up measures, all fines have reverted to the national treasury.

The meeting also discussed joint response measures by city and provincial governors regarding the irrational integration of childcare and education administration, which unifies these functions but requires local governments to bear all financial and personnel burdens.

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