K-Culture Valley on the Cusp of Revolution: Will the Upcoming Budget Bill Unlock its Full Potential
Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly to Vote on Supplementary Budget Amidst Differences of Opinion
The Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly is set to vote on the supplementary budget on the 23rd, marking a new phase in the aftermath of the K-Culture Valley agreement termination.
A plenary session is scheduled to take place on the 23rd to address the agenda for the Budget Settlement Special Committee’s decision on the supplementary budget, including the land sale price that the province must pay due to the termination of the K-Culture Valley Agreement, and the investigation of related administrative affairs.
The Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly Budget and Settlement Special Committee is scheduled to vote on the province’s first supplementary budget for 2024 at 9:00 AM on the 23rd. The supplementary budget was originally scheduled to be voted on on the 22nd following the review conducted on the 19th to the 21st, but the date of the vote was ultimately postponed due to delays in the review and differences of opinion between the two parties.
After the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, the 378th plenary session of the extraordinary session is scheduled to be held immediately, which is the one-point meeting for processing the supplementary budget. The agenda for the plenary session includes the supplementary budget as well as the formation of a special committee to investigate administrative affairs related to the K-Culture Valley.
Although the Democratic Party and the People Power Party agreed to form a special committee to investigate the K-Culture Valley administrative affairs and promised to process the supplementary budget, differences of opinion regarding some supplementary budget plans still remain.
For example, there is a clear difference of opinion regarding the government’s public welfare senior citizen job budget, which was cut by about 9 billion won, and major campaign promises such as Governor Kim Dong-yeon’s ‘RE100’. In addition, the standing committee has requested a cut in the budget for ‘AI-based food scan for our children’ and ‘AI-based health management support service for chronic disease patients’ requested by the new department.
A provincial council official predicted that the supplementary budget will likely pass the plenary session without much objection, but noted that conflicting projects continue to arise and the review by the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts itself is getting longer, which may lead to noise during the processing.