Through a Press Conference, "Private Consignment Contributes to Finances" Rebuttal
City Council "Must Switch to Direct Management"... Consignment Agreement Rejected
"Abnormal Operation of Seunghwawon Due to Rejection... Citizen Inconvenience"
Park Hong-ryul, mayor of Mokpo City, held a press conference on the morning of the 21st and announced the position that 'direct management of the crematorium is not possible.'
This follows the rejection of the consent proposal for the private consignment of the Mokpo City crematorium, led by some members of the Mokpo City Council affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea. On the 20th, the Mokpo City Council rejected the consent proposal for private consignment of Mokpo City at the 393rd 2nd regular session plenary meeting and demanded direct management operation.
At the press conference, Mayor Park explained, “The Mokpo City crematorium has been operated under private consignment for 53 years since its opening in June 1971,” and “The crematorium within the Mokpo Memorial Park, which was relocated to Daeyang-dong in 2015, has also been operating smoothly under private consignment to this day.”
Mokpo Mayor Park Hong-ryul is holding a press conference to refute the rejection of the consent proposal for the private consignment of the Mokpo crematorium, which was led by some city council members affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea on the 21st. Photo by Seo Young-seo
Mayor Park said, “The city is facing a serious situation where it must suspend crematorium operations due to the City Council’s demand to switch to direct management with only one month left until the private consignment ends on December 31,” and added, “I have explained several times to the council that switching to direct management is impossible.”
He emphasized, “If operated under direct management, it is not only impossible to urgently hire professional personnel, but salaries would be standardized downward compared to those received from the corporation, and hiring more than 14 employees would exceed 100% of the government’s standard labor costs,” adding, “During the grant tax review process for financially strained Mokpo City, penalties would be imposed, accelerating the city’s financial difficulties, which are already tightening belts due to the current reduction in local grant tax.”
He also stressed, “In Jeollanam-do Province, crematoriums operated under direct management are experiencing increasing deficits, but in Mokpo’s case, private consignment operation generates annual profits (surplus) as non-tax revenue (185 million KRW in 2024), thereby contributing to the city’s finances.”
He expressed concern, saying, “If operated under direct management by the city, one general team (4 people) and more than 10 public service workers must be hired,” and “If a union is formed among public service workers, demands for wage increases, improved working conditions, and excessive work condition claims could lead to strikes, resulting in a crisis in cremation and funeral services.”
He added, “Direct management operation is a matter that should be comprehensively reviewed through services and other means,” and lamented, “Due to the City Council’s rejection of the private consignment consent proposal, the crematorium (Seunghwawon) operations will be abnormally conducted for a considerable period, and the resulting inconvenience will be borne by the citizens.”
Mayor Park added, “We will thoroughly prepare for normal operation and consider operating under an emergency system for the time being.”
Meanwhile, the Mokpo City crematorium was completed in 2015 with 12.4 billion KRW funded by national and city budgets and was consigned to Corporation A, which then subcontracted it to Corporation B. In June 2021, executives of Corporation B, the entrusted corporation for the crematorium, were reported to the prosecution on suspicion of embezzling profits. Investigation revealed that the former representative of this corporation embezzled approximately 950 million KRW in 17 instances over about three years from 2017 to 2019, and was indicted on charges of embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Subsequently, the court acknowledged the charges brought by the prosecution and sentenced him to two years in prison with a three-year probation in September last year. The defendant filed an appeal but suddenly withdrew it, finalizing the sentence in March this year.
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