Residents of 6 Cities Without Local Grants Hold Cultural Festival at Gwanghwamun in Seoul

On June 11th at 3 p.m., residents of six Gyeonggi Province cities facing significant budget cuts due to the government's local finance reform held a rally at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul demanding the withdrawal of the restructuring plan.

Residents' committees from Suwon, Seongnam, Hwaseong, Yongin, Goyang, and Gwacheon cities organized the "Citizens' Cultural Festival to Prevent Local Finance Deterioration and Protect Local Autonomy" at Gwanghwamun Plaza, demanding that the government "immediately halt attempts to restructure the local finance system and establish fundamental measures to expand local finances."

Attending the festival were approximately 15,000 people (9,000 according to police estimates), including Seongnam City Mayor Lee Jae-myung, who has been conducting an indefinite hunger strike, Suwon City Mayor Yeom Tae-young, who is focusing on publicity efforts, Hwaseong City Mayor Chae In-seok, Yongin City Mayor Jeong Chan-min, and other local government leaders from four cities, lawmakers including Rep. Lee Woo-hyun from the Saenuri Party and Reps. Kim Jin-pyo and Kim Min-ki from the Democratic Party, local assembly members, and residents.

Mayor Lee Jae-myung attended the festival after continuing an indefinite hunger strike at Gwanghwamun Plaza since June 7th demanding the withdrawal of the local finance reform plan.

Organized by the Emergency Countermeasures Promotion Committee of each local government, the festival proceeded with cultural events to block the local finance reform plan, followed by a reading of a resolution statement, introduction of participants, and a progress report.

Residents argued that "although the fundamental difficulty of local finances lies in the small amount of local taxes, the government is misleading public opinion by making it seem as though some local governments are responsible for fiscal collapse."

They further emphasized that "the government should first fulfill the commitment announced in the 2014 Comprehensive Plan for Local Autonomy Development to preserve 4.7 trillion won for local finances."

Residents also contended that "the Ministry of Interior and Safety's restructuring of local finances, determined under the pretext of improving local finance equity, is an incorrect policy that downgrades local finance levels downward," and asserted that "the fundamental solution is to establish the ratio of national to local taxes at a minimum of 7:3."

Previously, the six local government bodies submitted signatures from approximately 3 million citizens opposing the local finance reform plan to the Ministry of Interior and Safety on June 9th.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety announced a local finance reform plan on April 22nd of this year that changes the distribution method of adjustment grants for cities and counties and converts corporate local income tax into a shared tax.

If implemented, the budgets of six Gyeonggi Province local governments (six Gyeonggi Province cities that do not receive local grants because their income exceeds their financial needs), where 5 million people reside, will be reduced by up to 269.5 billion won per city, totaling 800 billion won.