Choo Mi-ae Declares "770 Billion Won Budget Cut Unavoidable" ... Announces 'Gyeonggi Province State of Financial Emergency' on the 5th

Reduction of Various Work-Related Expenses for the Governor and Senior Officials

Immediate Implementation of Rigorous Expenditure Restructuring

Total Suspension of Wasteful Budget Allocations and Executions

Cessation or Fundamental Re

On August 5, Choo Mi Ae, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, officially declared a "financial emergency" for the province and began implementing strong fiscal austerity measures. The key points include cutting work-related expenses for senior officials, thoroughly reviewing all wasteful budget items, protecting essential public spending, and promoting reforms to the province’s revenue structure.

Governor Choo held an urgent press conference in the briefing room of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office on the same day, stating that a supplementary budget cut of 770 billion won is inevitable. She announced her plan to overcome the fiscal crisis by implementing four major emergency measures: major expenditure restructuring, public sector reform, protection of essential public funding, and revenue structure reforms.

Governor Choo first commented, "The financial crisis did not occur overnight, so it will take time to fix. As this is an unavoidable decision, I will do my utmost to take responsibility to the residents of Gyeonggi Province."

To this end, work expenses for the governor and other senior officials will be reduced, and strict spending restructuring will take effect immediately. All allocations and executions of wasteful budgets will be halted completely. One-off, handout-oriented, or non-essential projects will be reviewed from scratch. In addition, the province will re-evaluate the necessity of unnecessary events, habitual research projects, and outsourced or consigned work, and will determine whether these projects should proceed based on their justifiability.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi Ae is holding an urgent press conference regarding the financial situation of Gyeonggi Province at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office on the 5th. Photo by Gyeonggi Province

Governor Choo emphasized, "We will scrutinize our finances down to the last detail, efficiently monitoring every minute and every second. Senior officials, including myself, will take the lead and set an example."

Reform of the public sector’s organizational culture is also planned. Governor Choo’s immediate advisory staff will be thoroughly streamlined, and the barriers between departments and public agencies will be eliminated to enable efficient personnel redeployment. Project results and potential overlaps will be re-examined across the board to improve the efficiency of budget execution.

However, Governor Choo also made it clear that the financial crisis will not result in abandoning essential public services. "Budgets crucial for supporting daily life will be protected until the end," she said, pledging that funding vital to vulnerable populations and provincial residents will continue without disruption.

She also stated that fiscal restructuring alone cannot resolve the crisis and that institutional improvements will be pushed to normalize the revenue structure. Improvements will be sought to reduce reliance on acquisition tax, while proposing to the government and the National Assembly measures to expand local consumption taxes and fairly allocate tax revenues from attracting businesses. The province will also demand that the financial burden on local governments resulting from state-subsidized projects be alleviated.

"We will relentlessly cut unnecessary areas and pursue fair fiscal reforms," Governor Choo said, adding, "I will do my best to regain the trust of the people of Gyeonggi Province, starting with myself."

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