Governor required to respond after threshold met in four days

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

A public petition calling for the resignation of Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae over budget cuts has surpassed 10,000 signatures — the threshold requiring an official response — just three days after it was posted. Choo will now be required to formally respond to the resignation demand.

The petition, titled "We petition for the resignation of Governor Choo Mi-ae," was posted on the Gyeonggi Province petition website and crossed the 10,000-signature mark at around 5:30 p.m. Monday — four days after it was first published Friday.

The petition's author wrote that a fiscal analysis by the Democratic Party's fiscal soundness TF found no grounds to declare an immediate crisis after reviewing multiple indicators and the province's overall fiscal structure, yet the governor unilaterally declared a fiscal emergency, claiming the province would go bankrupt as things stood, and pushed through 546.5 billion won ($406 million) in spending cuts in the latest supplementary budget.

"What is even more shocking," the author added, "is that while slashing civil servant incentives to less than half in the name of a fiscal emergency, she personally signed a contract for a government residence — a 155-square-meter apartment with a deposit of more than 1.2 billion won — for her sole use."

"As the side effects of reckless budget cuts emerge one by one and threaten the daily lives of Gyeonggi residents, we petition for Governor Choo Mi-ae's resignation before it is too late," the author wrote.

With the petition now exceeding 10,000 signatures, Choo is required to provide an official response within 30 days.

Resident backlash against Gyeonggi Province's sweeping austerity measures is not new.

Earlier, a separate petition opposing the province's decision to end its postpartum care support program also surpassed 10,000 signatures.

In response, Choo addressed the controversy Sunday through her social media account, saying the province's budget for this year had been drawn up to cover only nine months from the outset, leaving no funds to fill a three-month gap, and that she could not halt meal support for children or assistance for people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.


hss@heraldcorp.com