Choo Mi-ae Faces Criticism for 1.2 Billion Won Jeonse Official Residence Amid 'Fiscal Emergency'... Accusations of 'Double Standards'

Governor Choo Pushes for 546.5 Billion-Won Spending Restructure
Anonymous Staff Board: "Compared to Kim Dong-yeon, Who Paid for His Own Apartment"

While Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae has declared a fiscal emergency in the province and announced plans for a spending restructuring, controversy has arisen as she herself is using a jeonse apartment valued at around 1.2 billion won as her official residence.

According to Gyeonggi Province and other sources on September 6, Governor Choo declared a fiscal emergency on August 5 and subsequently drafted a supplementary budget proposal (extra budget) that includes a 546.5 billion won spending restructure to tackle the financial crisis.

As part of burdensharing measures, the regular personnel appointments for the second half of the year have been postponed to January next year, and welfare budgets such as participation fees for staff sports events have been cut, resulting in internal dissatisfaction.

However, it was revealed that in June, the Gyeonggi Provincial Government signed a jeonse lease for an apartment measuring 156 square meters (47 pyeong) near the provincial office for 1.22 billion won, providing it to Governor Choo as an official residence. Governor Choo moved in from July, immediately after taking office, fueling further criticism.

On "Wagle Wagle," the anonymous bulletin board for provincial government employees, posts have criticized the governor for asking staff to cooperate while she herself resides in a jeonse apartment worth over 1.2 billion won, calling it hypocrisy.

Yonhap News Agency

A representative from the provincial government workers’ union said, "There was already significant concern over news of cuts to staff welfare budgets, such as a 10 million won reduction in funding for the National Civil Servants’ Sports Festival. Now, with the postponement of regular personnel appointments and the issue of the 1.2 billion won official residence, staff complaints about 'double standards' are growing, especially compared to former Governor Kim Dong-yeon, who paid for his own jeonse apartment."

Former Provincial Council member Ko Joon-ho released a statement saying, "If staff are being asked to save, then even stricter standards should apply to the governor's own residence. The governor should have chosen a smaller official residence to tie up less of Gyeonggi Province’s funds, using those financial resources instead for areas needed by the citizens."

In response, a Gyeonggi Provincial Government official stated, "We secured the official residence in the nearest location to facilitate provincial affairs, and the contract was carried out according to relevant regulations."

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