Changnyeong-gun 'County Governor' Causes Waste of Tens of Billions in Public Funds

2 People Charged with Bribery, 1 Person Committed Suicide

Over 1.5 Billion Won Spent on April By-Election Costs

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Wook] Since the beginning of the elected era, Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, has suffered from a disgraceful regional perception due to the misconduct of a total of three county governors, and tens of millions of won of taxpayers' money, which should have been used for the welfare of the residents, are being wasted on the by-election campaign expenses.

On the 16th, Changnyeong-gun allocated about 1.2 billion won to the Changnyeong County Election Commission for the county governor by-election to be held on April 5, following the extreme choice of former county governor Kim Bu-young. Including about 300 million won for the provincial councilor by-election expenses in preparation for the current provincial councilor’s run for county governor, a total of 1,532,890,000 won of taxpayers' money must be spent from the contingency fund.

Changnyeong County Office, Gyeongnam.

1.5 billion won is a huge amount that could comfortably support 50 employees earning an annual salary of 30 million won for one year.

In particular, the contingency fund of local governments is a precious budget intended for unexpected urgent situations such as various disasters and accidents, protecting the lives and property of residents.

The late former county governor Kim Jong-gyu resigned from his position in July 2006 after a final Supreme Court ruling on bribery charges, and former county governor Ha Jong-geun, who was elected in the by-election, also resigned in October 2007 after only one year and four months. Former county governor Kim Bu-young, who was elected in last year’s local election, also made an extreme choice while undergoing police and prosecution investigations and trials for election law violations immediately after taking office.

Since the launch of the elected era in 1995, Changnyeong-gun has become a local government with a disgraceful record of wasting tens of millions of won of taxpayers' money solely on by-election expenses due to the misconduct of a total of three county governors.

Some residents say, “The problem lies in the party nomination system where even a stick can win,” and “The current nomination system, which cannot be free from the influence of the local member of the National Assembly, should be abolished so that residents can make their own choices.”

They also said, “The People Power Party should take responsibility for the nomination and refrain from interfering in the by-election in any way.”