Tongyeong, mired in 'financial fraud', who will provide support for people's livelihood? > News

The beginning of this conflict began right after the June 3 local elections, when Mayor Cheon Young-ki of the People Power Party, who was defeated, rushed to pay 35.1 billion won in livelihood support to all citizens at the end of his term. Mayor Cheon claimed that it was a measure to stabilize the livelihood of citizens suffering from high inflation and economic recession, but the opposing Democratic Party's Kang Seok-ju, elected president, defined this as a clear 'fiscal swindle'. There was strong criticism that the mayor, who lost the election, was violating the financial management authority of the next city administration and opening the treasury unreasonably to make his own political mark. In the end, at the extraordinary meeting of the Tongyeong City Council held on the 11th and 12th, the related ordinance and supplementary budget were postponed and reduced, making Mayor Cheon's plan for ‘June payment’ virtually impossible.

The decisive turn of events occurred in the city council plenary session. The plenary session, which failed to meet the quorum, was automatically adjourned without even starting, and in this process, the divisions in the political world were clearly revealed. With all members of the Democratic Party of Korea and some People Power Party members not attending the plenary session, the National Assembly was effectively boycotted. This proves that there was not only opposition from the Democratic Party, but also a negative trend within the People Power Party regarding excessive budget execution at the end of the term. In the end, even the final card, the ex officio presentation of the chairman, ran into the wall of lack of members, creating a situation of ‘administrative paralysis’ rarely seen in the history of local autonomy.

At the core of the controversy over the public livelihood support fund is the political justification of ‘who will be in charge of executing it?’ rather than the difference between Mayor Cheon Young-ki’s 300,000 won and President-elect Kang Seok-ju’s 330,000 won. President-elect Kang already pledged to provide livelihood support funds during the election period, and declared that he would hold a one-point extraordinary meeting in July, immediately after the launch of the 9th popular election, and follow fair procedures. On the other hand, the current executive branch countered by saying that executing the budget as soon as possible is for the benefit of citizens amidst the economic crisis caused by political instability in the Middle East. However, as the two candidates' pledges clashed, citizens became hostages of political confrontation rather than support.

Currently, Tongyeong City is preparing to transition to the 9th popularly elected system by officially launching a transition committee centered on President-elect Kang Seok-ju on the 15th. The transition committee plans to focus on reviewing the numerous pending issues and at the same time designing the policy direction for the next city administration. This failure to provide livelihood support funds placed a greater sense of responsibility on the next city government. President-elect Kang, who is targeting payment in August, is committed to providing more transparent and practical support measures through budget restructuring and revenue management, but the possibility that this conflict will further strain the relationship between the ruling and opposition parties within the city council cannot be ruled out.