Choo Mi-ae: "Gyeonggi Province Covers 1.5 Trillion Won in Personnel Costs for National Firefighters, the Central Government's Responsibility"

"Central Government Provides Only 80 Billion Won"
"Personnel Expense System for Civil Servants Must Be Reformed"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae argued for reforming the system in which Gyeonggi Province covers most of the personnel expenses for national-level firefighters on August 8.

On this day, Governor Choo posted on Facebook, "Personnel expenses for national-level employees should be the responsibility of the central government, but in reality, the opposite is true. Fiscal restructuring is urgently needed for locally driven growth," she stated.

She explained, "It has been 10 years since we began preparing for the transition of firefighters to national civil servants. In that time, the number of firefighters assigned to Gyeonggi Province has increased by 1.4 times, and the related expenses, including personnel costs, have risen by 1.8 times." She continued, "Gyeonggi Province is now shouldering the majority of the costs for approximately 11,000 national-level firefighters, amounting to more than 1.5 trillion won."

She also pointed out, "Of the personnel expenses, which total around 1.1 trillion won, the central government covers only 80 billion won, and for the other work expenses of about 400 billion won, the central government provides only 30 billion won."

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae is holding a press conference declaring a 'Gyeonggi Province Financial Emergency' at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province on June 5. Yonhap News.

Governor Choo said, "Of Gyeonggi Province's roughly 40 trillion won budget, commissioned projects that receive national subsidies account for more than half. Even within the remaining 16 trillion won, we are covering over 1 trillion won in personnel costs for national civil servants. Now is the time to reform this structure."

She stressed, "Gyeonggi Province is set up so that even if it runs a fiscal deficit, the central government does not provide grants. Therefore, if our fiscal levee breaks, there is no way to fill the gap. Fiscal reform and restructuring of the revenue system are urgently needed."

Previously, at a press conference on the 5th, Governor Choo declared a "fiscal emergency situation," stating that a 770 billion won reduction in the supplementary budget is inevitable. She is currently pursuing reforms such as restructuring the local tax revenue system, including making corporate local income tax a joint revenue source for Gyeonggi Province and its cities and counties, to overcome the fiscal crisis.

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