"1 Trillion Won Budget Era?" People Power Party's Kim Kiwoong, Seocheon County Governor Candidate, Faces Accusations of Inflating Fiscal Figures

Main Budget of 744.7 Billion Won vs. Total Investment of 1.0234 Trillion Won
"Including External Funds Risks Misleading as County Finances"
Lee Gangseon: "Mixing National and Provincial Project Budgets Causes Conceptual Confusion... Clear Distinction Needed"

Lee Gangseon, Member of the Seocheon County Council

Controversy has arisen over alleged distortion of fiscal scale in the campaign promotion by Kim Kiwoong, preliminary candidate of the People Power Party for Seocheon County governor in South Chungcheong Province, who put forward the slogan of ushering in a “1 trillion won budget era.”

On April 27, Lee Gangseon, a member of Seocheon County Council from the Democratic Party of Korea, issued a statement criticizing, “The finalized main budget for Seocheon County for 2026 is 744.7 billion won, yet the promotion combines national projects, province-led projects, and budgets from national agencies to make it appear as if the county’s own budget surpasses 1 trillion won. This is inaccurate publicity.”

Previously, candidate Kim promoted on social media that “In the fourth year of the 8th popularly elected administration, we have ushered in the era of a 1.02 trillion won budget, including national projects,” presenting the “1 trillion won budget era” as an achievement.

However, according to the “2026 Investment Budget Status” document submitted by the county, as cited by Councilman Lee, the total figure of 1.0234 trillion won comprises: ▲the main budget of 744.7 billion won ▲national direct projects worth 164.8 billion won ▲provincial direct projects worth 3.7 billion won ▲and 110.2 billion won in indirectly related budgets. This figure represents the “total investment within the region,” not fiscal resources directly allocated and executed by the county itself.

In particular, national projects are executed directly by the central government and, simply because they are carried out in the region, cannot be considered part of the local government’s budget.

Screenshot of SNS of Kim Kiwoong, Pre-candidate for Seocheon County Governor from the People Power Party

According to Councilman Lee, the budget presented by candidate Kim also includes major national projects such as the restoration of the Janghang National Wetland, the establishment of the Blue Carbon Demonstration Research Center, and the realignment of National Highway No. 29, as well as project costs for the National Institute of Ecology and the Resource Center.

Lee emphasized, “Framing the total investment—including external funding—as ‘Seocheon County’s 1 trillion won budget’ gives residents a misleading impression of the actual fiscal scale of the county. Using a simplified expression that does not distinguish between the main budget and external project funds exaggerates the administration’s achievements.”

He continued, “An accurate description would be to distinguish between the main budget of 744.7 billion won and the total regional investment scale of 1.0234 trillion won. The budget is not merely a campaign slogan, but public information for county residents to make informed judgments, so an honest fiscal explanation is necessary.”

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