Son Hee-kwon, a member of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council (People Power Party·Pohang), expressed concerns about the effectiveness and budgetary impact of issuing local love gift certificates during the second Planning and Economic Committee meeting of the 352nd Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council temporary session, held recently. On the 30th, he urged careful consideration regarding the additional issuance of local love gift certificates by Gyeongsangbuk-do.
Gyeongsangbuk-do plans to issue local love gift certificates worth 33.3 billion KRW this year, budgeting 1 billion KRW from the provincial government and 2.33 billion KRW from city and county governments. Furthermore, according to the 2025 Economic and Trade Bureau work report, there are plans to support additional issuance of local love gift certificates through the first supplementary budget in the first half of this year.
Regarding this, Councilor Son stated, “Looking at the usage status of local love gift certificates in other local governments (Seoul), 21.9% of the usage was at large companies, while the amount used by small businesses did not even reach 30% of the total. Although I agree with the original goals of reducing residents’ living costs and increasing sales for small business owners, I am concerned whether these goals are actually being achieved,” and emphasized, “A detailed review of the impact of local love gift certificates on actual livelihoods, such as neighborhood markets within the province, is necessary.”
Choi Young-sook, Director of the Economic and Trade Bureau, responded, “There has been no specific research on the economic impact of local love gift certificates within Gyeongsangbuk-do, but our own investigation found frequent use in places far from revitalizing local commercial districts, such as private academies and gas stations.”
Councilor Son clearly opposed the recently reintroduced partial amendment to the “Act on the Promotion of Use of Local Love Gift Certificates,” led by the Democratic Party of Korea despite the government’s veto. He mentioned the limitations of cash distribution policies. The bill, which mandates national financial support for the operation of local love gift certificates, was finally rejected last October.
Councilor Son criticized, “This bill is nothing more than a populist policy that injects government funds into local governments to distribute cash,” adding, “Experts unanimously point out that such policies have minimal effect on stimulating consumption relative to the financial input, and even the KDI report shows that cash distribution methods have no economic stimulus effect.”
He continued, “During COVID-19, despite 14.3 trillion KRW being allocated for nationwide disaster relief funds?more than Gyeongsangbuk-do’s annual budget?the actual consumption effect was less than 30%, resulting in budget waste.” He urged Gyeongsangbuk-do to thoroughly analyze the economic impact on residents as it annually invests in issuing local love gift certificates to prevent budget waste.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
