Gyeonggi governor meets with firefighters union in her office to deliver personal apology
'Wrong expression hurt firefighters,' she says
Proposes tax restructuring to boost fire department funding
Measure expected to secure 1.5 trillion won over four years
Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae met with firefighters union officials Tuesday and personally apologized for her remark describing the fire department as a "fiscal straw" draining local government finances. She also proposed converting a portion of the local education tax on tobacco consumption into a regional resource facility tax earmarked for fire department funding.
Choo met at her office at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government building with Kwon Yeong-gak, head of the fire department branch of the Korean Government Employees' Union, and Park Jin-gyu, head of the Gyeonggi chapter, who had just wrapped up a press conference outside the building, according to Yonhap.
"I sincerely and wholeheartedly apologize to all firefighters who were hurt by the wrong choice of words, which was entirely my fault," Choo said. She added that a series of major accidents had prevented her from offering a full apology sooner. "I felt it was not the right time or place to address my verbal misstep amid sudden, large-scale disasters," she said. "I again apologize to you with all my heart."
Choo went on to explain the process behind her push to secure more funding for the fire department — the context that had prompted the original remark — and reaffirmed her commitment to reforming the system. "Shortly after I took office as governor, the fire department chief came to see me and I learned just how untenable the fire department's fiscal situation was," she said. "I came to see the fire department's financial problems as more pressing than the province's own fiscal crisis, and as I received briefings I realized this was not a problem that could be solved by cutting spending — it was a structural one."
"When I asked what systemic reforms were possible, the idea came up of converting the local education tax on tobacco — set to expire at the end of this year — into a regional resource facility tax for the fire department," she said. "We decided to at least put forward this proposal as an urgent measure, and I recommended it to the council of metropolitan and provincial governors and to the president."
The proposal calls for redirecting 43.99 percent of the local education tax on tobacco consumption — due to sunset at year's end — into a regional resource facility tax to help cover firefighter personnel costs and other fire department expenses. Legislation to amend the relevant law has already been introduced. Gyeonggi Province expects the measure to generate 1.5 trillion won ($1.13 billion) in fire department funding over four years.
"I sincerely hope the central government will open a path for investing in the fire department as part of its fiscal priorities and will join us in speaking up," Choo said. "I again feel the full weight of the sacrifice of the late Fire Lieutenant Kim Jin-seok, and I ask you to trust that my sincerity in ensuring his death was not in vain is genuine."
Union officials responded by saying they hoped "the apology the governor has expressed will translate into concrete steps to address the hardships faced by firefighters on the ground." They called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances of Kim's death in the line of duty and urged that staffing increases and improved working conditions be put in place to prevent further fatalities.
The controversy began Oct. 13, when Choo, testifying before the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee during the national audit of Gyeonggi Province, referred to the fire department as "the biggest headache — like a fiscal straw" while discussing local government finances and the budget for firefighters, who hold national civil servant status.
On Saturday, Choo visited the funeral home for the late Fire Lieutenant Kim Jin-seok, who died in the line of duty in a factory fire in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. Her condolence remarks — "If it was conveyed differently from my intention, I offer my deepest regrets, and since you are asking for an apology, I sincerely apologize with all my heart" — drew fresh criticism.
eyre@heraldcorp.com
