SUWON — Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae said she will explain the province's fiscal difficulties directly to residents and build an internal management system to prevent another fiscal crisis.
"We have an obligation to accurately inform residents of the reality Gyeonggi Province faces and to explain it fully," Choo said at the September monthly meeting held at the provincial government complex on the 22nd. "Transparently disclosing the difficulties of provincial administration and our efforts to resolve them is the starting point of a trusted administration."
The meeting drew about 50 senior officials, including the first vice governor for administration, the vice governor for economic affairs, the head of the fire and disaster headquarters, the senior secretaries for policy and political affairs, and the heads of each bureau. It was the first time the province broadcast an entire monthly meeting online.
Choo identified finances as the province's most serious issue. "It is more accurate to call it a fiscal crisis rather than simply a problem," she said, adding that many programs directly tied to residents' lives face suspension. She stressed that the adjustments were unavoidable, saying the province was "by no means eliminating or cutting programs that are functioning properly."
She also laid out her response. Choo said the province would first focus on reviving livelihood programs at risk of being halted, explaining that each bureau is reviewing its programs to secure the necessary funding and that essential livelihood programs are being protected first.
For a structural solution, she pointed to tax reform. The province plans to work with the central government, the National Assembly and other metropolitan and provincial governors to raise the local consumption tax rate in stages to 40.3% from the current 25.3%. It will also consider allocating 5% of the national corporate tax to metropolitan local taxes and converting the local education tax on tobacco consumption into a regional resource facility tax for firefighting.
Internal fiscal management measures were presented for the first time. "We enacted a provincial ordinance on fiscal soundness last year, but we did not create an internal fiscal crisis management system," Choo said. "Drawing up a sound fiscal management plan requires an understanding of finances," she added, ordering fiscal training for senior officials.
"We need a shared understanding of fiscal rules and the current fiscal situation," she said. "We need training in fiscally accountable administration that checks whether evaluations and budget estimates have been carried out properly." She also called for swiftly establishing a sound fiscal management plan under the fiscal soundness ordinance and for putting response systems in place, including an early warning system and a fiscal soundness committee.
The Gyeonggi Province fiscal soundness ordinance was enacted in March 2024, revised in October 2025 and took effect in January 2026. It covers the establishment of a sound fiscal management plan, the development of fiscal soundness indicators, the creation of an early warning system, the drafting of a debt management plan and the operation of a fiscal soundness committee. The management plan and the committee, however, have yet to be completed.
The meeting also covered comprehensive measures for the 2026 Chuseok holiday, the Yongin semiconductor cluster project, a regulatory reform framework, the Pyeonhae-G commuter bus service and plans to improve the visibility of road lane markings.
On the Chuseok measures, Choo asked officials to ensure that residents are well informed about the emergency care situation room, emergency medical institutions, and hospitals, clinics and pharmacies that remain open.
She praised the field-based approach behind the lane visibility plan. "I ordered improvements because lane markings were not visible on rainy days," Choo said. "Staff listened to views from the field and repeated trial painting to establish a Gyeonggi-style construction standard."
Choo said she would expand opportunities to transparently disclose the province's problems and the process of resolving them to residents.
