Gyeonggi Province has declared a financial emergency as past trends in its debt levels gain attention online.
Choo Mi-ae, the Governor of Gyeonggi Province, held a press conference on August 5, announcing the financial emergency. The province cited a decline in acquisition tax revenue due to a sluggish real estate market and increased welfare spending as contributing factors to its financial burden.
Following this announcement, documents detailing changes in Gyeonggi's debt began circulating online, sparking debate over the financial management during Lee Jae-myung's tenure as governor.
According to shared documents, Gyeonggi Province reduced its debt from 2016 to 2020, as the amount repaid exceeded the amount issued in local bonds. However, the situation reversed starting in 2021.
The data shows that from 2021 to 2025, the amount of local bonds issued exceeded the repayment amount for five consecutive years. The total bond issuance from 2021 to 2025 was 6.1564 trillion won, while the repayment amount was 1.790 trillion won. The annual difference between repayments and issuances also recorded a net increase each year: -1.1419 trillion won in 2021, -924.9 billion won in 2022, -670.6 billion won in 2023, -478.1 billion won in 2024, and -1.1509 trillion won in 2025.
Another document indicated that Gyeonggi's debt balance has increased for five consecutive years since reaching a low in 2020.
Some online users also discussed Gyeonggi's financial structure. They noted that while the province's financial independence is about 45%, one of the highest among local governments in the country, a significant portion of its revenue comes from acquisition taxes, which have sharply declined due to reduced real estate transactions, exacerbating the financial strain.
Additionally, past promotional budgets for Gyeonggi Province were revisited online. According to shared data, the promotional budget was 6.439 billion won in 2016, 7.792 billion won in 2017, 10.724 billion won in 2018, and 11.72 billion won in 2019, increasing to 12.614 billion won in 2020.
This has led to various interpretations among online users. Some commented, "The residents of Gyeonggi already know who mismanaged the finances," and "The debt reduced during Nam Kyung-pil's administration has significantly increased since Lee Jae-myung took office," suggesting that Lee's achievements may have contributed to the rising debt.
Others attributed the increase in debt to political advertising and welfare expansion policies, questioning, "Isn't this spending for populism in an attempt to become president?" and noting the significant rise in advertising expenses. However, such assessments cannot be definitively concluded based solely on the data presented in the article.
Amid this controversy, the supplementary budget of Sinan County in Jeollanam-do was also mentioned. Some users questioned, "With a financial independence of only 8%, how can they propose a 1 trillion won supplementary budget? Did they discover oil or something?" raising concerns about overall financial management.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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