Over 5 Years, Local Government Committees Have Sprouted Rapidly... 25% Haven't Held Any Meetings

Kim Yong-pan, a member of the People Power Party, is making a personal statement at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Police Agency held at the National Assembly on the 26th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Over the past five years, the number of committees under local governments has increased by 5,000, but it has been revealed that one out of every four local government committees did not hold a single meeting throughout the year.

According to data on the "Status of Non-Meeting Committees by City and Province under Local Governments in the Past Five Years," submitted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 4th to Kim Yong-pan, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the People Power Party, the number of committees that did not hold any meetings during the year reached 31,506 over the past five years.

By year, in 2017, 5,278 out of 23,500 committees (22.46%) did not hold any meetings; in 2018, 5,958 out of 24,874 (23.95%); in 2019, 6,229 out of 26,395 (23.60%); in 2020, 7,198 out of 28,071 (25.64%); and in 2021, 6,843 out of 28,621 (23.91%) did not hold a single meeting throughout the year.

The budget allocated to committees that did not hold meetings over the past five years was approximately 20 billion KRW, accounting for about 8.6% of the total committee expenses over five years, raising concerns about budget waste. The region with the highest budget allocated to non-meeting committees was Gyeongbuk (2.5 billion KRW), followed by Gyeonggi-do (2.4 billion KRW) and Daejeon (2.2 billion KRW).

Rep. Kim emphasized, "The proliferation of various committees under local governments has led to a very serious operational situation," adding, "Efforts by each local government to voluntarily consolidate or abolish unnecessary committees and guidance and supervision by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety are necessary." Meanwhile, as of last year, the total number of committees under local governments was 28,621, an increase of more than 5,000 compared to 2017.