Choo Mi-ae: "Cutting Costs with Determination... 5% of Corporate Tax Should Go to Local Governments"

Proposal to Increase Local Consumption Tax Rate and Allocate Corporate Tax to Local Governments

Kim Minseok: "We Will Work to Resolve Gyeonggi's Fiscal Vulnerabilities"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Mi-ae Chu stated, "The funds saved through painful reductions are being prioritized for projects directly related to residents' lives, such as school meals for children, care services for the elderly, and support for vulnerable groups and people with disabilities."

Governor Chu explained at the Gyeonggi Supreme Council Meeting of the Democratic Party of Korea, held at the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Government Building in Uijeongbu on the morning of the 21st, "What Gyeonggi Province is doing right now is by no means cutting or abolishing sound projects. Rather, we are struggling to revive projects that were already supposed to be discontinued."

She emphasized, "We inherited a budget that was empty for three months. If we fail to fill this gap, essential public welfare projects will come to a halt. We are doing everything possible, running from place to place, to save even one more project."

Yonhap News Agency

Governor Chu asserted that the fiscal structure itself must be changed so that fiscal crises among local governments are not repeatedly experienced. She suggested, "The local consumption tax rate should be increased to broaden the stable revenue base for local governments, and it is urgently necessary to allocate just 5 percent of the national corporate tax revenue to metropolitan and local governments."

Additionally, she remarked, "Although firefighting jobs have been converted to national positions, this has not been normalized in terms of wages or expenses. For example, Gyeonggi Province must bear about 1 trillion won in personnel costs this year and approximately 1.1 trillion won in 2027."

Governor Chu added, "Someone once said, 'Why not just leave the problem covered up, take on more debt, and let someone else deal with it later?' But I cannot do that. That's not in my nature. I will thoroughly investigate why these issues occurred in the first place and address the root causes so the same problems will not happen again."

On this day, Democratic Party Leader Minseok Kim said, "We will work to resolve Gyeonggi Province's vulnerable fiscal structure, which is caused by a revenue base that does not match the province's contributions to industry and infrastructure. The party will closely support the acceleration of semiconductor fabrication plant construction in Yongin and Pyeongtaek, and ensure that investments in power, water, and transportation infrastructure proceed smoothly."

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