Gov. Nam Kyung-phil: "Local Finance Restructuring Plan Raises Concerns of 'Robbing Peter to Pay Paul'"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-phil expressed his position on the government's local finance restructuring initiative, stating that it "does not align with the current administration's national governance policy and raises concerns of short-term thinking at the expense of long-term benefit."

While six local governments in Gyeonggi Province—including Suwon, Seongnam, Yongin, Goyang, Hwaseong, and Gwacheon—have been opposing the government's local finance restructuring, the province has not previously stated its official position.

At the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly's 310th Regular Session on the 11th, Governor Nam made this statement in response to a question from Rep. Lee Jae-jun (Democratic Party, Goyang District 2), who asked the governor to clarify his position on the government's local finance system improvement plan, including adjustment grants.

Governor Nam said, "Upon reviewing the government's proposal, I can sympathize with it from the perspective of balanced national development, but when examining the specific content and implementation process, there are problems."

He continued, "The Park Geun-hye administration says it will increase the pie for leveling up, but this is actually leveling down—taking from one stone to fill another."

Governor Nam also stated, "The adjustment grant system was improved and implemented only a year ago. There is a problem with changing it again, and the fact that this was done without sufficient communication with the relevant province, cities, and counties raises concerns that this is a 'short-sighted' policy."

Governor Nam's remarks are interpreted as expressing agreement with the principle that resolving fiscal disparities between local governments is necessary, while emphasizing that sufficient communication with relevant local governments is needed in the process of changing systems.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior and Safety announced on the 22nd of last month through a National Finance Strategy Meeting that it would convert corporate local income tax into a shared tax. Six local governments in the Gyeonggi region, claiming losses of 800 billion won, are strongly opposing the measure.