Yangsan City Budget Spent on Bus Rental for Busan Group Draws Criticism... "We Wanted to Revive the Local Economy"

The Yangsan branch of the Korea Senior Citizens Association used a tourist bus from the Busan area on the 5th to attend a sports event. [Image source=Contributor]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Using Yangsan city budget but leaving Yangsan buses behind and renting buses from Busan?

The Yangsan branch of the Korea Senior Citizens Association sent players and executives to participate in the Gyeongnam Federation Silver Sports Competition, but by mobilizing buses from companies in other regions, local tour bus operators became upset.

They expressed that although the budget support for participating in the competition was received from Yangsan city and there are several companies in Yangsan, it is inappropriate to charter buses from other regions.

Yangsan city also advocates revitalizing the local economy and prefers the use of local companies first, so it is viewing this organization's use of companies from other regions unfavorably.

The Yangsan branch of the Senior Citizens Association dispatched 80 people, including 60 gateball players and 20 executives, to the Silver Sports Competition held on the 5th at Masan Indoor Gymnasium in Changwon city.

On that day, three tour buses were mobilized, and it is known that Yangsan city sponsored about 2 million won for the bus charter fees.

The rented buses were reported to be tour buses from Busan, not from Yangsan area companies, which led local tour bus officials to voice complaints all at once toward the event organizers.

Currently, there are about 14 tour bus companies in the Yangsan area operating a total of about 220 buses. An industry official explained that there was no shortage of Yangsan buses on the day of the event.

In response, a Senior Citizens Association official said, "While urgently looking for buses, it seems we used a company known to one of the association members," and expressed apologies, saying, "We will use local companies evenly from next time."

A Yangsan city official said, "From the perspective of revitalizing the local economy, we will make sure this does not happen again by preparing well in advance next time."