Changwon City: "No Excessive Overseas Travel Expenses for Second Vice Mayor, Actually Reduced"

Direct Rebuttal to Claims of Spending 5-6 Times More Than Former Deputy Mayor

Changwon City in Gyeongnam has refuted claims made during the city council's administrative questioning on the 10th that the overseas business trip expenses of Deputy Mayor Cho Myungrae are nearly five times higher than those of his predecessor, stating that "this is not true."

Previously, Jin Hyungik, a member of the Changwon City Council from the Democratic Party of Korea, raised a question during the 137th temporary session's third plenary meeting, saying, "Looking at the overseas business trip budget for the second deputy mayor over the past 10 years from 2014 to 2024, the expenses for Deputy Mayor Cho Myungrae during the 8th term were nearly five times higher than the 7th term, and six times higher than the 6th term."

Jung Myungrae, Changwon City Second Vice Mayor (left), and Jin Hyungik, City Councilor, are exchanging questions and answers regarding municipal administration inquiries. [Photo by Changwon City Council YouTube broadcast capture]

Jin stated, "Deputy Mayor Cho has taken four overseas business trips over the past two years, spending approximately 126 million won from the budget," and added, "Considering that previous deputy mayors used around 20 million won, this is about 100 million won more." He requested the submission of overseas trip reports, itineraries, and travel agency contract details for the past two years.

In response, Deputy Mayor Cho answered, "I went on three practical business trips and one trip related to Glocal University in cooperation with Changwon University," and explained, "While traveling with staff, we drafted the basic blueprint for how to design Changwon's future-oriented urban structure."

He also mentioned that he visited the United States, Dubai, China, Australia, Singapore, and other countries to analyze cases of industrial structure improvement, prepare plans for a paradigm shift in marine new city urban planning, link the marina industry to urban sectors, and seek university cooperation measures.

Regarding the travel expenses, he stated, "According to the civil servant travel regulations, I am eligible to fly business class, but I used economy class instead, spending 22,280,750 won on four trips," and asserted, "I will take legal action against any dissemination of false information or defamation."

Government Employee Travel Expense Regulations. [Provided by Changwon Special City Investment Attraction Division]

On the 11th, Changwon City explained in a statement, "On August 27, Councilor Jin requested data on overseas business trips by the mayor and the first and second deputy mayors from 2010 to 2024. On the 2nd of this month, the Investment Promotion Division submitted the requested information, including traveler, date, destination, duration, budget, and purpose, according to the required format."

The city also stated, "After each trip, we prepared in-depth post-trip reports, exceeding the standards for outsourced assignments."

The city added, "The second deputy mayor has taken four practical official overseas trips from 2022 to the present," and explained, "These trips aimed to review cases such as industrial structure improvement in Baltimore's Rust Belt in the United States, paradigm shift issues in marine new city urban planning in Dubai and China, connections to the marina industry in Australia, and cooperation plans with universities in Poland and the Netherlands, in order to plan Changwon's basic urban plan for the next 50 years."

Official Travel Expense Payment Classification Table. [Data provided by Changwon Special City Investment Attraction Division]

Regarding the travel budget, the city emphasized, "The total budget of 126,544,000 won for the second deputy mayor's trips was spent by a total of 22 people, with the individual amount being 22,535,750 won."

Additionally, the city explained, "The second deputy mayor is a level 2 or 3 (director-level) public official, receiving a salary equivalent to that rank," and continued, "According to the official travel expense regulations, he is entitled to business class (actual cost for first class), but he saved 15 million won by flying economy class with the working-level staff."

The city pointed out, "Councilor Jin deliberately claimed as if the second deputy mayor personally spent the entire trip budget in a public setting, spreading false information."

Deputy Mayor Cho stated, "Official overseas business trips should be evaluated comprehensively based on objective criteria such as destination, duration, and number of travelers," and added, "I regret that the submitted data was intentionally edited and publicly announced for personal attacks, and I formally request an official apology."