Civil Complaints on Roads Surge 17-Fold as Budget and Manpower Stagnate... Jeonbuk Provincial Road Administration ‘Idle for a Decade’

Despite Ranking 8th in Pavement Rate Among Nine Provinces,
Budget for Road Expansion and Paving Is Decreasing

Assemblywoman Youngja Kim Urges "Increased Budget and Reforms at the Road Management Office"

Criticism has emerged that road administration in Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province has stagnated for a decade. The staffing of the provincial road management office has been frozen for ten consecutive years, and the pavement rate for provincial roads ranks only 8th among the nine provinces nationwide. Despite this, the budget for road expansion and paving projects has actually decreased. Civil complaints related to roads have surged by nearly 17 times over the past decade, while both budget and personnel have failed to keep up, prompting concerns about a "neglected road administration."

Kim Youngja, Member of Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province Council.

On September 3, Youngja Kim, member of the Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province Council’s Economic, Industrial and Construction Committee (representing Gimje City’s 2nd district), delivered a five-minute speech during the 431st extraordinary session, pointing out the poor investment and management of provincial roads in Jeonbuk and urging for an expanded budget and reforms at the road management office.

According to Assemblywoman Kim, Jeonbuk’s investment budget for provincial road expansion and paving dropped from 50 billion won in 2024 to 32 billion won in 2026.

The share of the provincial road budget within Jeonbuk’s overall budget is a mere 0.3%. This is half the national average of 0.6%, and only one-third compared to the neighboring Chungnam Province’s 1.0%.

The key issue is that this budget shortfall is directly resulting in delays to road projects.

Nine projects from Jeonbuk’s 2nd Road Construction and Management Plan, which were supposed to be completed by 2020, remain unfinished. Of the 13 projects in the 3rd Plan (2021–2025), 70% have yet to progress beyond the compensation or design stages.

Kim argued that if the current spending level of around 30 billion won a year continues, the 13 projects included in the recently established 4th Road Construction and Management Plan (2026–2030) would be pushed back by ongoing projects and may not begin construction until around 2040. Road projects that should have taken three to four years to complete are now delayed by seven to eight years, resulting not only in prolonged inconvenience for residents, but also in rising construction costs and delayed payment recoveries, increasing the burden on local construction firms.

Routine road maintenance has faced similar challenges. Civil complaints related to road maintenance—such as potholes—rose from just 29 cases in 2015 to an estimated 489 cases in 2025, an increase of about 17 times. In contrast, the related budget expanded by only 1.4 times during that period.

The number of staff at the road management office—responsible for on-site response—has remained unchanged for ten years. With an annual personnel shortage of four to nine people, it is difficult to properly respond to the rising demand for maintenance. The fact that the road pavement cycle now stretches to 50 years further highlights the problems caused by underinvestment and poor management systems.

Assemblywoman Kim maintained that Jeonbuk’s road administration is stuck in a vicious cycle: while plans are established, projects are delayed, complaints are increasing, and management remains stagnant.

She demanded that next year’s main budget allocate at least 60 billion won for provincial road expansion and paving, address vacancies at the road management office, supplement on-site professional staff, and significantly increase the maintenance budget.

Kim emphasized, “Road construction and maintenance is a fundamental infrastructure that protects the safety of residents and supports the local economy. For the safety of our residents and the future of our region, Governor Lee Wantak of the 9th elected administration must make road administration the top priority of provincial governance.”

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