Gwangju City Activates Three Major Emergency Response Systems: Supplementary Budget, Trade, and Livelihood

Impeachment Delay Deepens Public Conflict and Economic Uncertainty
Mayor Shifts from Daily Meetings to Daily Economic Situation Reviews
Full Efforts on Supplementary Budget for Projects like AX Demonstration Valley
Swift Response to Corporate Crises

Kang Kijeong, mayor of Gwangju, held an informal meeting with attending reporters in the press room on the 5th floor of the city hall on the afternoon of the 31st, explaining the three major emergency response systems: supplementary budget, trade, and livelihood. Provided by Gwangju City

Gwangju City has entered a three-pronged emergency response system focusing on “supplementary budget, trade, and livelihood” with the economy as its top priority, as the delay in the Constitutional Court’s impeachment ruling has intensified public conflict and economic uncertainty, worsening the livelihood economy.

This move comes as the city actively responds to the government’s supplementary budget of 10 trillion won aimed at strengthening artificial intelligence (AI) competitiveness, while unprecedented crises escalate across the trade and livelihood economy due to the Trump administration’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs, the spread of a full-scale global trade war, record-high closures of self-employed businesses, sluggish domestic demand, and shrinking consumption.

On the 31st, Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijung met with reporters at City Hall and said, “Until the impeachment ruling, we will convert our daily morning meetings with department heads into daily economic situation review meetings,” adding, “We will respond quickly and flexibly by monitoring the supplementary budget, trade, and livelihood economy on a daily basis.”

Mayor Kang diagnosed the economic situation by saying, “Since the 12/3 martial law incident, the delay in the Constitutional Court’s impeachment ruling has resulted in a long and heavy 118-day bill for the livelihood economy. Public conflict and economic crisis are greater than ever, and the Trump trade war, with reciprocal tariffs scheduled for April 2, is threatening local manufacturing and export companies.”

He continued, “Concerns about closures and stagnation among the self-employed and small business owners have become a reality, and consumption is more subdued than ever. The National Assembly has begun discussions on the government’s 10 trillion won supplementary budget plan for three key areas (disaster and accident response, trade and AI competitiveness, and livelihood support). Gwangju City will operate an emergency response system focusing on supplementary budget, trade, and livelihood economy.”

On this day, Mayor Kang held the first daily economic situation review meeting with the deputy mayor and department heads in attendance. At the meeting, he instructed, “Until the impeachment ruling, each department must establish issue management and emergency response systems for the supplementary budget, trade, and livelihood sectors.”

For the “supplementary budget,” the city will operate a supplementary budget response team led by the two deputy mayors, focusing on securing funds for future investment and livelihood safety. Specifically, the city plans to concentrate on securing budgets for projects such as the AX (Artificial Intelligence Transformation) Demonstration Valley, Urban Rail Line 2 construction, future vehicle projects, and the AI Gifted High School project. Accordingly, the Deputy Mayor for Culture and Economy visited the National Assembly in the afternoon to focus efforts on securing supplementary budgets for future industries such as the AX Demonstration Valley.

For “trade,” the city will strengthen its response system centered on the existing Export Competitiveness Enhancement Support Team and the SME Crisis Support Center, while also enhancing communication on the ground.

For the “livelihood economy,” the city will continue to review and expand participation in this year’s “Gwangju Economy Together Cha-Cha-Cha (Good Consumption, Good Finance, Good Jobs)” initiatives, such as good consumption and advance payments. It will also strengthen support and response systems for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners in crisis.

In addition, the city will continue to respond to Gwangju Global Motors (GGM), which has been experiencing labor-management conflict since last year, and Daewoo Winia, which is undergoing corporate rehabilitation procedures (court receivership). Gwangju City plans to review the status of these companies and seek response measures at the “2nd Daily Economic Situation Review Meeting” on April 1.

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