Gyeonggi Province-Provincial Assembly's 'Exclusive Communication Channel' Likely to Disappear … Governance Put to Test Amid Fiscal Crisis

It has been confirmed that Gyeonggi Province is considering not appointing a cooperation chief who has served as a communication liaison with the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly.

According to Gyeonggi Province and others as of the 25th, the province appointed political affairs chief Lee Gyujin, spokesperson Hong Eun-gwang, and public relations planning director Lee Won-gu on the 24th, but did not appoint a cooperation chief.

While the political affairs chief and cooperation chief are similar in coordinating relations with the political sphere, their primary communication targets differed. The political affairs chief primarily handled external political affairs such as the National Assembly and political parties, while the cooperation chief mainly handled current issues with the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly.

The province is viewing overlapping duties and organizational size as major criteria for deciding whether to appoint a cooperation chief.

Spokesperson Hong Eun-gwang of the province said, "While we could divide the domains of the cooperation chief and political affairs chief between the Assembly and provincial assembly, their basic nature is the same, creating an overlapping domain problem, and we are also considering streamlining the organization," and "While we have not made a final decision on whether to appoint one, there is a high probability we will not appoint one from a practical standpoint."

If the cooperation chief position is not established separately, communication with the provincial assembly is expected to be handled integrally by the political affairs chief.

On the 29th of last month, Governor Choo Mi-ae emphasized constant communication with the provincial assembly at the 'Popularly Elected 9th Term Gyeonggi Province-Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly Meeting' with Provincial Assembly Speaker Nam Jong-seop and others.

In the business report submitted to the provincial assembly, the province presented 'composition and operation of a regular communication body between the province and provincial assembly' as a key task. The plan is to form a consultative body discussing budgets, ordinances, and livelihood issues to be operated from September.

Particularly in the process of addressing the fiscal crisis that Governor Choo has positioned as the top priority of the popularly elected 9th term, coordination with the provincial assembly is inevitable. Following existing project reviews and budget restructuring, upcoming issues requiring the provincial assembly's consent and cooperation such as supplementary budgeting will follow.

Governor Choo also announced through her SNS her plan to reorganize budgets focusing on essential spending, then explain and discuss with the provincial assembly.

The provincial assembly holds differing views on the necessity of the cooperation chief position.

Representative Kang Seong-hwan of the People Power Party caucus in the provincial assembly said, "If you say you will practice governance, there must be someone to perform that role to actually communicate and coordinate," and "If we acknowledge the necessity yet do not have someone to perform the role, we can only harbor doubts as to whether you intend to proceed one-directionally."

Meanwhile, the fact that the Democratic Party holds 144 of the 167 seats in the 12th Provincial Assembly represents a changed political environment different from the 11th term when ruling and opposition parties held equal seats. With both the governor and the provincial assembly majority party being Democratic, views diverge both inside and outside the assembly on whether a governance structure of the same form as the 8th popularly elected term is necessary.

A provincial assemblywoman requesting anonymity said, "In a crisis situation, party-government consultations would be far more efficient than formal governance requirements," and "Streamlining the political affairs line could rather be seen as a symbolic measure demonstrating the gravity of the fiscal crisis."

However, there is also a view that merging the separate communication channel for the assembly into one is a separate matter, given that the executive branch and assembly have different roles.

Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly Speaker Nam Jong-seop said, "The provincial assembly is very large, and without a communication channel, people end up thinking differently and opinions inevitably clash, so entrusting only to the political affairs chief is risky," and "To communicate with the assembly, you must open diverse channels; unifying into one is not appropriate."

The province takes the stance that appointing a cooperation chief and province-provincial assembly governance are separate matters.

Vice Governor Kim Seong-jung said, "The province's executive branch and provincial assembly are actually inseparable, so will the purpose of governance disappear?" and "Regarding the appointment of a cooperation chief, (Governor Choo as the personnel authority) seems to be deliberating on it."