Backlash grows inside Gyeonggi Province over 'do as I say, not as I do' perception

Gyeonggi Province says residence was chosen for efficiency, procedures followed rules

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae [Yonhap]
Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae [Yonhap]

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae, who has championed sweeping budget cuts citing a fiscal crisis, is facing accusations of hypocrisy after it emerged she is living in a jeonse apartment valued at 1.2 billion won ($883,000) as her official residence.

According to Yonhap and Gyeonggi Province, Choo declared a "fiscal emergency" on Aug. 5 and subsequently drew up a supplementary budget incorporating 546.5 billion won in expenditure restructuring to address the crisis.

As part of the austerity drive, she postponed the second-half personnel reshuffle to January, citing an organizational overhaul, and cut welfare spending for staff — including subsidies for employee sports events — calling for internal "shared sacrifice."

The controversy erupted when it became known that Gyeonggi Province had signed a jeonse contract in June for an apartment near the provincial office — 156 square meters — at 1.22 billion won, providing it as an official residence. Choo moved in starting in July, shortly after taking office. Critics say the arrangement contradicts her calls for fiscal restraint: she is demanding austerity from her staff while herself occupying a high-priced official residence.

Discontent has spilled into the open inside the provincial office. On "Wageuljwageul," an anonymous online board used by Gyeonggi Province civil servants, a string of critical posts argued it made no sense to slash employee welfare budgets in the name of overcoming the fiscal crisis while the governor used a residence worth more than 1.2 billion won.

An official at the Gyeonggi Province Civil Servants' Labor Union said concern had already been running high after news broke of welfare budget cuts — including a 10 million won reduction in participation fees for the National Civil Servants' Sports Games. "With the personnel reshuffle delay and now the 1.2 billion won residence issue on top of that, staff are increasingly comparing her to former Governor Kim Dong-yeon, who paid his own rent, and the sense that this is 'do as I say, not as I do' is growing louder," the official said.

Ko Jun-ho, a former Gyeonggi provincial assembly member, said in a press release that if the governor had asked employees to cut back, a stricter standard should have applied to her own housing. "She should have chosen a smaller official residence, tied up less of the province's funds, and left that much more fiscal room for where residents actually need it," he said.

A Gyeonggi Province official responded to the controversy by saying the residence near the provincial office was chosen to ensure smooth conduct of provincial affairs, and that the contract process had been carried out properly in accordance with relevant regulations.


an@heraldcorp.com