Why Rush Before the Plenary Session?... Seoul City Council Members Going to See the Movie 'Geon-guk Jeonjaeng'

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Since February 20th, the Seoul Metropolitan Council's extraordinary session has begun.

After the ordinance to increase council activity expenses was passed, citizens expected the council members to devote themselves more to their legislative activities.

However, after the increase in council activity expenses, the People Power Party members of the Seoul Metropolitan Council attracted attention by collectively going to watch a movie during the session.

At 10 a.m. on the 29th, Floor Leader Choi Ho-jung and others took a limousine bus from the council to a movie theater located in Myeongdong.

They watched the documentary film "Geongukjeonjaeng" (The Founding War), which reexamines the achievements of President Syngman Rhee.

The council's extraordinary session plenary meeting was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. that day.

When the plenary meeting is held in the afternoon, council members are supposed to come to the council in advance, check the agenda items, review whether the ordinances are helpful to residents, study them, and participate in the vote.

During the city administration questions on February 23rd, Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Superintendent of Education Cho Hee-yeon, and other executive officials all attended the plenary hall, but the seats of the council members were empty.

Seeing the empty plenary hall, the representatives of both parties were even suspected of whether they encouraged attendance at the plenary meeting.

In the National Assembly, when a government question session is held, the floor leaders of the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea make efforts such as sending text messages to their members encouraging participation or requesting them not to leave. Regarding this, the People Power Party floor leader's office stated that they sent text messages encouraging attendance at the plenary meeting to the council members.

There are also questions about the source of funding for the Seoul council members' group movie viewing that day. There are specific items in the council budget that can be used, and unless the members bought the movie tickets with their own money, the question is whether the cost of watching a movie during the session can be considered a legitimate council activity and thus paid from the council budget.

In response, a Seoul Metropolitan Council official explained, "They probably used the negotiation group operating expenses to buy the tickets."

One official said, "It would be understandable to use evening hours after meetings, so it is hard to understand why they had to watch a movie together right before the plenary meeting."

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