"When Every Penny of the Nation's Money Is Precious, I'll Pay for My Own Meal"

Busan Gijang County Mayor Oh Gyuseok Declares "I Won't Spend Except on Transportation" Amid Financial Struggles Due to COVID-19

Oh Gyuseok, Mayor of Gijang County, Busan.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] There is a local government head who declared that he would not receive a single penny of business trip expenses except for transportation costs. Why did he do that?

On the morning of the 3rd, Busan Gijang County Governor Oh Gyu-seok, who attended the daily COVID-19 response situation meeting, attracted attention by declaring that he would not receive meal and daily allowances (miscellaneous expenses) during out-of-area business trips, only transportation expenses.

Since his inauguration in 2010, Governor Oh has been reducing business promotion expenses and has not allocated any funds for five years since 2017.

Governor Oh told the officials attending the meeting, “Isn't that how congratulatory and condolence expenses are? If I were to receive those expenses back later, it would be ambiguous whether they are public or private. So, I do not allocate any business promotion expenses for the governor’s office and use my personal funds if necessary.”

He added, “The same goes for meal and daily allowances during out-of-area business trips. The line between public and private is unclear. Even when I do not go on out-of-area trips, I buy meals with my own money. Therefore, during out-of-area trips, I have mostly used my personal money for meals and daily allowances. I have returned most of the meal and daily allowances received as out-of-area travel expenses.”

He said, “Returning out-of-area travel expenses every time is cumbersome. From now on, I will apply for and receive only transportation expenses during out-of-area trips.”

Governor Oh explained the reason for returning business trip expenses, saying, “Due to COVID-19, all Korean citizens are fighting not only a quarantine war but also an economic war. Public officials must take the lead in saving every penny of taxpayers’ money.”

He continued his admonition, “Public officials must save and conserve even one sheet of copy paper, electricity, and tap water used in the office. When each department promotes projects, they must think carefully and repeatedly to prevent waste of taxpayers’ money.”

“Dasan Jeong Yak-yong said in Mokminsimseo that the way for local officials to love the people is through frugality. Public officials must fear wasting taxpayers’ money. Lee Kuan Yew, who made Singapore the world’s top city today, consistently emphasized the white shirt of public officials, that is, integrity,” he also said.

Since his inauguration on July 1, 2010, until March 2, 2021, Governor Oh has made 508 out-of-area business trips and returned all remaining travel expenses. The total amount of out-of-area travel expenses he returned is 9,591,670 KRW.

Governor Oh is so stubborn that he has never taken the KTX first-class car during out-of-area business trips since his inauguration.

From July 2010 to 2017, the annual limit for business promotion expenses for the governor (from 2018, the limit was unified by position) was 52.8 million KRW, but starting with 1,396,000 KRW in 2010, he carried out a “tight-fisted” relay until 2016 and has maintained a zero-won march since 2017.

There are no business promotion expenses for the governor this year either.