South Chungcheong Provincial Council Cuts Supplementary Budget for Environment and Forestry: "No Budget That Ignores Residents' Safety"

Lack of Dedicated Insect Management,
Reduction in Electric Vehicle Budget,
and Sharp Increase in Refrigerant Emissions Under Fire

The Health, Welfare, and Environment Committee of the South Chungcheong Provincial Council has put the brakes on the provincial administration by cutting the supplementary budget for environment and forestry.

Provincial assembly members consecutively pointed out the lack of a dedicated insect management department, the reduction in electric vehicle supply, and the sharp increase in refrigerant emissions, emphasizing, "We cannot tolerate a budget that disregards the safety of residents."

At the 3rd meeting of the 361st extraordinary session held on September 4, the Health, Welfare, and Environment Committee of the Provincial Council cut 360.88 million won from the 115.18532 billion won general account expenditure for the 2025 second supplementary budget under the jurisdiction of the Environment and Forestry Bureau and the Forest Resources Research Institute. This was not a simple reduction, but a result of reviewing the effectiveness of budget execution.

Chairman Kim Minsu, during the review of the "Ordinance on the Management and Control of Mass Occurrence Insects in South Chungcheong Province," pointed out, "There is no dedicated department in the province to comprehensively research and manage insects," and called for clarification of the responsible authority.

Vice Chairwoman Shin Sunok, during the review of the "Ordinance on Supporting Industrial Complex Greenhouse Gas Reduction," insisted, "Support should not be focused only on large corporations, but should provide real opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises," calling for expanded private sector participation.

Assemblyman Kim Seokgon stressed, "The environment and forestry budget is directly connected to the safety of residents, so it must be operated with a focus on disaster prevention rather than for show."

Assemblyman Jeong Gwangseop pointed out the reasons for the reduction of provincial and municipal funding in the electric vehicle supply project, stating, "Matching projects require prior consultation."

He also requested, "Please accelerate the control of pine wilt disease in Nam-myeon, Taean."

Assemblyman Park Jeongsu raised concerns about the cuts to the electric vehicle supply project (7.6 billion won) and the Cheonan Natural Recreation Forest improvement project (1.2 billion won), urging, "We must increase the execution rate in the first half of the year to prevent budget cuts."

Assemblyman Lee Cheolsu, regarding the increased budget for the eco-friendly lakeside park at Yedang Reservoir, argued, "If the focus is only on tourism development, it could undermine the original purpose of agricultural water use and lead to harm for residents."

Assemblyman Jeong Byeongin, during the review of the "Ordinance on Supporting Refrigerant Management in Response to the Climate Crisis," noted, "Despite efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, refrigerant emissions have increased by more than 40%," and suggested that large-scale business sites should be managed by the Ministry of Environment, while South Chungcheong Province should directly manage small and medium-sized enterprises.

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