Wonju City Prepares 1.6677 Trillion Won Budget for Next Year, 6.4 Billion Won Less Than This Year

"Challenges Expected Due to Decline in National Tax Revenue... Maintaining Sound Fiscal Management Policy"
"Investing in Welfare for the Vulnerable, Livelihood Support, and Future Leap Projects Despite Tight Budget Management"

Wonju City, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province (Mayor Won Gang-su), submitted a budget proposal of 1.6677 trillion KRW, which is 6.4 billion KRW less than this year's budget (1.6741 trillion KRW), to the city council on the 18th.

A view of Wonju City Hall, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province. Photo by Wonju City Hall

The general account was set at 1.468 trillion KRW, an increase of 13.5 billion KRW compared to 2024, but the total scale decreased as the special account for public development projects shrank by 31.6 billion KRW (80.84%) year-on-year due to the completion of major projects such as the Namwonju Station area sales project.

Wonju City stated, “Due to the continued financial drought caused by consecutive decreases in national tax revenues, we have strived to enhance financial effectiveness by promoting expenditure efficiency, boldly reducing habitual and inefficient projects while not sparing necessary investments to address urgent livelihood issues and ongoing projects.”

The main sources of the budget proposal are local taxes of 191.9 billion KRW, non-tax revenues of 73.7 billion KRW, local allocation tax of 482.2 billion KRW, general adjustment grants of 48.8 billion KRW, national subsidies of 649 billion KRW, and net surplus funds of 22 billion KRW.

Wonju City reviewed all projects from scratch and excluded unnecessary projects. Local subsidies underwent performance evaluations to establish a sound fiscal policy, leading to the sunset or reduction of underperforming projects.

A city official said, “The welfare budget, based on the general account, was set at 724.4 billion KRW, accounting for 49.35% of the total budget. Even under ultra-tight fiscal conditions, we prioritized support for socially vulnerable groups and carefully ensured that no welfare blind spots occurred.”

Mayor Won Gang-su of Wonju said, “With the ongoing economic recession and decreasing national tax revenues accelerating difficulties in fiscal management, we deliberated more intensely than ever in preparing the 2025 budget proposal.” He added, “While maintaining a sound fiscal management policy, we did not neglect budget allocation for welfare support to vulnerable groups, such as supplementing city funds for dementia patient medical and hygiene supplies and child meal support projects, which are expected to face difficulties due to reduced national funding, ensuring that no citizen is left behind. With the semiconductor cluster development project being actively promoted, we also focused on investing in future industries to lay the foundation for Wonju City to leap forward as the center of South Korea.”

Meanwhile, the 2025 budget proposal submitted by Wonju City is scheduled to be finalized on December 18 after review by the standing committees and the budget and accounts committee of the Wonju City Council.