Daegu City's Social Economy Budget Support Drops from 24.1 Billion to 7.7 Billion Won in Three Years... Meeting Held Between City Council and Economic Organizations

Kim Jaeyong: "We Will Consider Support Measures"

The Economic and Environmental Committee of the Daegu City Council (Chairperson Kim Jaeyong) held a meeting at 3:00 p.m. on July 22, in the meeting room on the second floor of the City Council building, with representatives from sector-specific social economy organizations, including Daegu Social Value Solidarity (President Heo Youngcheol). They engaged in in-depth discussions on ways to revitalize the social economy, restore the community, and increase employment opportunities.

This meeting was organized to share the current situation of the local social economy sector, which has faced significant difficulties due to declining policy interest since the previous administration, and to jointly consider solutions to local issues through the social economy.

Members of the Daegu City Council's Economic and Environmental Committee and representatives of social economy organizations gathered for a meeting and then posed together for a commemorative photo.

The meeting was attended by all members of the Economic and Environmental Committee, including Chairperson Kim Jaeyong, Vice Chairperson Kwon Gihun, Lee Taeson, Yoon Kwongeun, Park Jongpil, and Kim Taewoo; as well as representatives from the local social economy sector, such as Heo Youngcheol, President of Daegu Social Value Solidarity, and Lee Changwon, President of the Daegu Social Enterprise Council. Park Gihwan, Director of the Economic Bureau of Daegu City, who is responsible for relevant city departments, also attended, bringing the total number of participants to about 20.

Representatives from the social economy sector who attended the meeting expressed concerns that the management environment for social economy enterprises has deteriorated due to a sharp reduction in policy support since 2023. They emphasized that the local social economy has provided stable jobs for women, youth, and vulnerable groups, and has been recognized as a leading model for public-private cooperation nationwide. They stressed the need for continued support for the social economy to address future local issues.

The scale of budget support for the social economy in Daegu City decreased from 24.17 billion won in 2021, to 21.742 billion won in 2022, 17.149 billion won in 2023, and 7.762 billion won in 2024. So far this year, it has sharply dropped to 4.11 billion won.

As of 2023, the female employment rate in social enterprises was 68.5% (compared to 44.0% for Daegu City overall), and the proportion of youth employment was 37.9% (Daegu City: 29.5%), both higher than the city average. Youth representatives accounted for 19.6% (Daegu City: 17.7%), and female representatives accounted for 44.7% (Daegu City: 36.5%). In 2023, the proportion of vulnerable groups employed by social enterprises and social cooperatives was 54.2%, totaling 1,507 people, with an average of 5.5 people per enterprise.

After listening to the industry's difficulties, members of the Economic and Environmental Committee expressed regret that support for the social economy sector is decreasing in line with government policy directions, and agreed on the necessity of strengthening policy support from Daegu City.

Chairperson Kim Jaeyong stated, "The OECD and major developed countries emphasize the revitalization of the social economy as a key policy tool for solving local issues," and added, "We will closely examine whether the contributions and achievements of the social economy in our region are being undervalued, and will consider practical support measures."

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