Go Seon-hui, speaker of the Seohaegu Council (left), and Kim Nam-won, speaker of the Geomdangu Council (right), present a joint petition calling for fiscal support to Nam Yeong-hui, Incheon's vice mayor for political affairs (center). [Seohaegu Council]
Go Seon-hui, speaker of the Seohaegu Council (left), and Kim Nam-won, speaker of the Geomdangu Council (right), present a joint petition calling for fiscal support to Nam Yeong-hui, Incheon's vice mayor for political affairs (center). [Seohaegu Council]

The councils of Seohaegu and Geomdangu — two newly established districts created through Incheon's administrative restructuring — have called on the city government to expand fiscal support to ease the financial burden of the early post-split period.

Go Seon-hui, speaker of the Seohaegu Council, and Kim Nam-won, speaker of the Geomdangu Council, met with Incheon Vice Mayor for Political Affairs Nam Yeong-hui at Incheon City Hall on Tuesday to deliver a joint petition for fiscal support and discuss financial challenges arising from the restructuring.

At the meeting, the two speakers said the administrative restructuring was a core city policy, and that the initial administrative and financial burdens from the district split were beyond what the basic local governments could bear on their own. They stressed that institutional and fiscal backing from Incheon was essential to ensure stable delivery of public services.

The joint petition contained three key demands: expanded fiscal support to help the restructuring take stable root, institutional improvements to strengthen the financial base of the autonomous districts, and support for local projects aimed at improving residents' quality of life.

The two councils particularly urged the city to secure greater municipal and central government funding to cover restructuring costs, prioritize special adjustment grants, and reform the general adjustment grant system to stabilize finances in the early post-split period.

Alongside this, the councils asked Incheon to actively support local projects that residents would directly feel — including expanded special-account funding for environmental improvements around the Greater Seoul landfill site and the development of cultural and arts infrastructure in the northern part of the city.

"The purpose of administrative restructuring is to provide residents with better public services, so resident inconvenience caused by financial difficulties must not be allowed to happen," Go said. "Practical support from Incheon is needed so the new autonomous districts can establish themselves on stable footing."

Kim said the success or failure of the restructuring hinged on securing a solid financial foundation in the early stages. "We will work closely with Incheon to build a successful model for administrative restructuring," he said.

Nam said the city would carefully review the petition's contents and explore a range of effective support measures.

The Seohaegu and Geomdangu councils said they plan to continue ongoing consultations with Incheon and pursue a joint response to expand fiscal support and improve relevant systems.


gilbert@heraldcorp.com