Ruling Party Leader Kim Min-seok Solution to Gyeonggi Province's 'Default' in Kim Min-seok's Hands… How Will Choo Mi-ae Break Through?

As National Assembly member Kim Min-seok (Yeongdeungpo District) was elected as the new Democratic Party leader, evaluations suggest that Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae, who had publicly endorsed candidate Jeong Cheong-rae in the final stages of the party convention, has also suffered a setback in her political standing.

According to political circles on the 17th, Governor Choo publicly endorsed candidate Jeong in the final stages of the party convention. Political analysts assessed that the backing of Governor Choo, the nation's largest provincial governor, could be a variable that could shift the tide in the final stages.

Meanwhile, Representative Kim extended a hand to Governor Choo. At a lecture held at Ajou University in Suwon on the 10th, he responded to the fiscal issues of Gyeonggi Province raised by Governor Choo and also lent support to joint corporate local income tax revenue consolidation. In effect, he publicly endorsed the core policy of Governor Choo, who had supported his rival candidate.

However, Governor Choo did not respond, and the party convention ended with Representative Kim's victory.

The problem lies ahead. The restructuring of Gyeonggi Province's fiscal structure, which Governor Choo has taken up as a core task since her inauguration, requires cooperation from the new ruling party leadership.

Governor Choo initially characterized Gyeonggi Province's fiscal situation as being in an "effective default state," but has recently backed off to saying "at this rate, it will be default" (August 16 report 「Next After 'Default' → Crisis or Caution?… Gyeonggi Province Struggles Over 'Default' Standard」). However, the joint corporate local income tax revenue consolidation that Governor Choo has proposed as a fiscal restructuring measure cannot be pursued independently by Gyeonggi Province. Depending on the specific institutional design, amendments to laws such as the Local Tax Act and revisions to subordinate laws such as presidential ordinances may be necessary, requiring cooperation from the National Assembly and government.

In the end, Governor Choo, who has made a strong diagnosis of "default," now faces a situation where actual fiscal restructuring requires cooperation from the ruling party led by Representative Kim, whom she did not support.

One political official said, "Supporting candidate Jeong was Governor Choo's political choice, but Gyeonggi Province's fiscal situation is an issue for 14.2 million residents," and added, "Since Representative Kim extended his hand first but the governor still threw her support behind candidate Jeong, Governor Choo is now in a position where she must mend relations with the new leadership and secure cooperation from the government and National Assembly."