Kim Giwoong, Seocheon County Governor, Faces Controversy Over Spending 24.3 Million Won of Taxpayer Funds on Meals

Controversy has arisen over the alleged misuse of taxpayer funds by County Governor Kim Giwoong in Seocheon-gun, South Chungcheong Province, regarding the execution of official expense budgets.

With the local elections approaching, it was revealed that more than half of these official expenses were spent on group meals, leading to criticism that this constitutes "dining politics" and, in effect, an abuse of administrative power for electioneering.

Yoo Seungkwang, Preliminary Candidate for Seocheon County Governor from the Democratic Party of Korea

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Yoo Seunggwang, Preliminary Candidate for Seo-cheon County Governor of the Democratic Party of Korea, issued a statement on the 16th, saying, "I cannot contain my outrage over suspicions that the precious taxes of county residents have been diverted from their original purpose of supporting county administration to instead serve as a foundation for personal political interests."

Candidate Yoo criticized, "While residents are suffering from a stagnant local economy, the county governor has spent taxpayer money as if it were his own, which is a clear case of moral hazard. The concentrated use of official expenses right before the election inevitably raises suspicions of illicit electioneering."

He went on to urge, "The criteria for execution and the intended purposes of these expenditures must be disclosed transparently, and responsible explanations should be provided to the residents."

Previously, Kangseon Lee, a Seo-cheon County Council member from the Democratic Party, also raised concerns about Governor Kim's use of official expenses at a press conference held on the 14th.

According to Assemblyman Lee, Governor Kim spent 24,328,700 won from January to April on group meals for staff across various county departments and the 13 towns and townships. This amounts to 54.2 percent of the annual official expense budget.

Particularly, as more than half of the official expenses were concentrated just about 100 days ahead of the local elections, there are growing concerns that taxpayer money may have been mobilized for election-related expenditures.

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