CHANGWON — South Gyeongsang Province has begun lobbying lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties to protect 11.68 trillion won ($8.4 billion) in state funding included in the government's budget proposal and to secure an additional 153.3 billion won.
The province said on the 1st that it held a budget policy council meeting in Seoul's Yeouido district on Sept. 30 with Democratic Party lawmakers representing South Gyeongsang constituencies to discuss major state-funded projects and ways to resolve key local issues. It was the second such meeting, following a session with the People Power Party's provincial chapter on Sept. 14. At that earlier meeting, participants agreed to protect projects reflected in the government budget proposal, secure additional state funding, and jointly respond to the enactment of special legislation and the relocation of public institutions.
Eleven people attended, including South Gyeongsang Governor Park Wan-su, Democratic Party lawmakers Min Hong-chul, Kim Jung-ho and Heo Seong-mu, and provincial bureau chiefs. Ahead of the meeting, the governor and the Democratic Party lawmakers issued a joint statement pledging a coordinated response to provincial concerns over the relocation and consolidation of public institutions.
The province asked the lawmakers to back 32 projects that require additional state funding. These include construction of a testing and inspection support center for small modular reactor (SMR) manufacturing components at the Changwon national industrial complex, a technology commercialization platform for future mobility thermal management systems, and a platform to verify the reliability of generative artificial intelligence in bio-health applications. The list also covers road construction budgets expected to be included in the sixth national highway and local highway construction plan, as well as community-level projects such as the relocation and reconstruction of Geochang Red Cross Hospital and the expansion of regional elder abuse prevention agencies.
"Since many of the projects fall under the defense and industrial sectors and the climate and environment sector, I ask for your attention so that South Gyeongsang's priorities are properly reflected in the relevant standing committees and during budget deliberations," Park said. "South Gyeongsang is applying AI technology to traditional industries while also growing its SMR and aerospace sectors," he added. "I ask the National Assembly to help us strengthen our competitiveness in advanced industries as well."
Min sits on the National Defense Committee, Kim chairs the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, and Heo serves on the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee and the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts. The three agreed to jointly review the province's defense, industrial, and climate and environment priorities in their respective standing committees and during budget deliberations. "Regardless of electoral district, I will do my utmost for the development of South Gyeongsang," Min said.
The province also renewed its request for passage during the regular parliamentary session of a special act on building an aerospace complex city and a special act on developing the southern coastal region. Other requests included the creation of a national industrial complex for defense and nuclear convergence in Changwon, inclusion in the fifth national railway network plan and the second comprehensive national road network plan, the relocation of key public institutions to the province, and attracting the integrated headquarters of state-run power generation companies to the Gyeongnam Innovation City. Officials also explained concerns that a newly created future response fund could worsen local government finances and called for institutional improvements to expand local fiscal resources.
The province will operate a "state funding task force office" at the National Assembly in line with the parliamentary budget review schedule.
