Democratic Party of Korea Gyeonggi Province Committee and Gyeonggi Province Government Agree on "Next Year's People-Centered Budget"

The Democratic Party of Korea Gyeonggi Province Committee (Chair Seo Young-seok) held the "Democratic Party of Korea Gyeonggi Province Committee-Gyeonggi Province Budget Cooperation Meeting" on the 10th at Yeouido in Seoul, with Governor Choo Mee-ae and 60 regional National Assembly members and regional committee chairs from across Gyeonggi Province in attendance.

Attendees discussed overcoming Gyeonggi Province's financial crisis and the direction of budget compilation for 2027. The Gyeonggi Province Committee conveyed local issues gathered by 31 cities and counties and 60 regional committees in the field to Gyeonggi Province, and requested that they be reflected in next year's budget.

Seo Young-seok, Chair of the Gyeonggi Province Committee, said, "We will create an environment for compiling the 2027 budget that can take responsibility for the lives and livelihoods of 14 million residents of Gyeonggi Province. We will well organize a consultative body so that Gyeonggi Province, the Gyeonggi Province Committee, and the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly can jointly address financial issues."

Chair Seo identified firefighting finances and long-term elderly care as pressing tasks. He said, "Let us gather our collective wisdom on how to establish national responsibility for firefighting finances and how to convert long-term elderly care costs to national funding to minimize the financial burden on Gyeonggi Province and local governments."

Governor Choo Mee-ae detailed the financial crisis and structural limitations facing Gyeonggi Province and said, "Ultimately, funds must come in, and for that, the system must first be changed. I strongly appeal for party-level support for improving the local finance structure, including reforms to the local tax system. While the government has announced some support measures for firefighting finances, please support a fundamental solution through legislation," she urged the National Assembly members and regional committee chairs.

Regarding the compilation of the 2027 general budget, she noted that as residents' difficulties are increasing due to income polarization and economic sentiment contraction, efforts are being made to reflect the voices from the people's livelihoods in the budget to the greatest extent possible.

Following this, Ju Hyung-chul, Vice Governor for Economy of Gyeonggi Province, explained the fiscal status of Gyeonggi Province and the direction of budget compilation for 2027, followed by a question-and-answer session and free discussion with regional committee chairs.

The Gyeonggi Province Committee plans to work closely with Gyeonggi Province to ensure that issues discussed on this day, such as firefighting finances and national sharing of long-term elderly care costs, are reflected in the 2027 National Assembly budget deliberation and pan-government fiscal decentralization discussions.

The meeting was attended by Seo Young-seok, Chair of the Gyeonggi Province Committee, and Governor Choo Mee-ae, along with Yoon Ho-joong, Minister of the Interior and Safety, Kwon Chil-seung, Policy Committee Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea, Yeom Tae-young, Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea's Committee for Good Local Governance, Lee Gwang-jae, Chair of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, Kim Young-jin, Chair of the National Assembly's Committee on Administration and Safety, and other Gyeonggi Province National Assembly members and regional committee chairs.