Incheon's Michuhol District Council has stirred controversy over plans to send its members on an overseas trip barely a month after the body was inaugurated, with critics calling it a waste of taxpayer money.
The Justice Party's Michuhol District Committee issued a statement Tuesday urging the ninth Michuhol District Council to immediately cancel its planned trip to Mongolia.
According to the statement, the council is pushing ahead with a five-day, four-night trip to Mongolia from Monday through Friday next week.
The delegation is set to comprise seven council members and four council staff — 11 people in total — at an estimated cost of about 20.87 million won ($14,700).
The Justice Party particularly criticized the council for pressing ahead with the trip and even increasing its budget despite earlier objections to the original plan.
The party said the trip was out of step with the economic conditions facing Michuhol District.
With high prices, elevated interest rates and an economic slowdown continuing to weigh on local small business owners and the self-employed, the party said the district council should focus its energy on reviving the local economy and addressing residents' livelihood concerns rather than traveling abroad.
The party also criticized the council for planning an overseas trip costing more than 20 million won so soon after its launch, at a time when other local governments are rolling out measures to support residents — such as expanding parking enforcement exemptions to help revitalize neighborhood commercial districts and ease the burden on residents.
The party also rebuffed the council's stated justifications for the trip, which included intergovernmental exchanges and prior commitments.
"The promises that local council members must keep first are not those made with overseas cities, but those made with the residents who entrusted them with their duties through an election," the Justice Party said.
The party went on to say that "what council members need right now is not a trip abroad immediately after being elected, but legislative activity that fulfills the campaign pledges they made during the election and looks after the difficulties of local residents." It added that it was "hard to understand what practical benefit a foreign trip costing more than 20 million won provides to residents' daily lives."
The Justice Party called on the Michuhol District Council to fully cancel the Mongolia trip, issue a public apology to residents over the itinerary changes and budget increase, and refocus its legislative activity on livelihood issues such as reviving neighborhood commercial districts.
The party warned that if the council presses ahead with the overseas trip despite public criticism, it could face strong backlash from residents.
Meanwhile, the Incheon Metropolitan Council is also drawing controversy after it emerged that the body is planning roughly 200 million won in overseas study trips in the second half of this year, even as Incheon city has halted cashback payments under its Incheon e-eum program and scaled back various livelihood projects due to fiscal difficulties.
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
