"State to Cover at Least 80% of Firefighters' Personnel Costs"... Lee Eonju Introduces Bill to Expand National Support for Firefighters

"To fulfill the intent of the transition to national employment, firefighters' personnel costs must be reliably covered"

An amendment to the Act on Support for Firefighting Finance and Establishment of Special Accounts for City and Provincial Fire Services is set to be introduced by the Democratic Party of Korea. The bill would establish by law the standards for the national government’s contribution to the personnel costs of national firefighting officials, helping ensure stable funding for firefighting services.

On October 21, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Eonju plans to introduce a bill requiring the national government to provide stable support for at least 80% of the personnel costs of firefighting officials, thereby expanding funding for firefighting services and easing the burden on local finances. Currently, cities and provinces are required to establish special accounts for fire services and cover firefighting officials’ personnel costs through sources such as the Fire Safety Grant, transfers from city and provincial general accounts, and the local resource and facility tax.

Lee Eonju, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, Yonhap News Agency

Lee’s amendment would require the national government to provide, from its general account, the portion of personnel costs it is responsible for, excluding the share covered by the Fire Safety Grant. It would also require the government to include the funds in its budget proposal; require city and provincial governors to submit estimated personnel costs and the Commissioner of the National Fire Agency to notify them of the amounts expected to be allocated; provide the funds quarterly and adjust them when estimated costs change; and reimburse local governments through subsequent grants for the national government’s share initially paid from local general accounts.

Lee said, “Residents’ concerns and criticism have been growing over recent cuts to Gyeonggi Province’s supplementary budget and the provincial governor’s remarks about firefighting finances. As a senior ruling-party lawmaker representing a district in Gyeonggi Province, I feel deeply sorry for having caused residents concern.” She added, “To fulfill the intent of transferring firefighters to national civil service, the national government must take stable responsibility for their personnel costs.” She continued, “Starting with the introduction of this bill, we must soon engage in an in-depth discussion and move forward on when and to what extent responsibility for firefighting personnel should be transferred to the national government.”

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