Gwangju Launches Citizens' Participatory Budget Committee with 100 Members

Participation in Budget Discovery, Proposal, Selection, and Formulation

Kwangwan Ko, Deputy Mayor of Gwangju, attended the 2025 Citizen Participation Budget Committee General Meeting held at Mudeung Hall in the City Hall on the 20th, presented appointment certificates to the representatives of the subcommittees, and took a commemorative photo. Provided by Gwangju City

The Gwangju City Government announced on the 21st that it held the '8th Citizen Participatory Budget Committee Member Training and Appointment Ceremony' at the Mudeung Hall in City Hall on the 20th.

The Citizen Participatory Budget Committee will be involved in the entire process of discovering, proposing, reviewing, and selecting budget projects for Gwangju City, including gathering residents' opinions on budget formulation, reviewing and prioritizing citizen-proposed budget projects, providing feedback on major city policies, and monitoring citizen participation budget projects.

The 8th Citizen Participatory Budget Committee is composed of a total of 100 members, including 91 appointed through open recruitment and city council recommendations, and 9 ex officio members such as the Deputy Mayor for Administrative Affairs. The term runs for two years, from January 2025 to December 2026.

The committee members will be assigned to eight subcommittees?Transportation and Construction, Urban Regeneration, Culture and Tourism, Welfare and Health, General Administration, Employment, Youth, and Environment and Ecology?to carry out activities to vitalize the citizen participatory budget system.

The event began with the appointment of committee members, followed by a report on last year's citizen participatory budget operations, sharing of the 2025 operational plan and collection of opinions, and basic training on the citizen participatory budget system.

Eighteen executives who will lead the 8th committee were also appointed. Kim Jungwon, Senior Researcher at the Korea Culture and Welfare Research Association (Urban Regeneration Subcommittee), was elected as Chairperson, and Jung Jaeyoung, member of the Sinheung-dong Residents' Autonomy Committee (Youth Subcommittee), was elected as Vice Chairperson.

Deputy Mayor for Administrative Affairs Ko Gwangwan stated, "The citizen participatory budget system marks the beginning of Gwangju's steps toward 'a stronger democracy' and 'a warmer livelihood economy.' I look forward to the broad and active participation of the committee members so that the citizen participatory budget system can be further revitalized."