Daejeon City Council Member Ahn Kyungja: "Inefficiency Must Be Addressed as City-Affiliated Organizations' Staff and Budgets Increase Annually"

"Is It Desirable Amid Economic Stagnation and Population Decline?"

Councilor Kyungja Ahn of Daejeon City is delivering a five-minute free speech at the plenary session on the 20th. / City Council

Despite economic stagnation and a declining population, there have been calls to address the inefficiency of the steadily increasing workforce and operational budgets of 18 public institutions under the Daejeon Metropolitan Government.

On the 20th, Daejeon City Council member Ahn Kyungja (People Power Party, Proportional Representation) urged the establishment of management measures for public corporations, foundations, and investment/contribution agencies under Daejeon City during a five-minute free speech at the 285th temporary session's first plenary meeting.

According to Councilor Ahn, the budget Daejeon City spent on its 18 local public institutions amounted to approximately 420 billion KRW in the 2023 general account settlement, a 29.2% increase compared to about 325 billion KRW in 2019. Councilor Ahn explained that this rate of increase is even higher than the overall expenditure growth rate of Daejeon City during the same period (28.7%).

Councilor Ahn pointed out, "While the economy is stagnating and the population is decreasing, I question whether it is desirable for the workforce and operational budgets of local public institutions to increase every year."

She continued, "It would not be an issue if resources were used efficiently where public services are needed, but in some institutions, labor-related expenses account for well over half of total income, while project expenses do not even reach a quarter," and asked, "Can we really say these institutions are being operated efficiently?"

Councilor Ahn also raised the issue of similar and overlapping functions among local public institutions. She said, "There are overlapping and similar tasks among institutions in areas such as regional innovation and new growth industry planning (Daejeon Technopark and Daejeon Institute of Science and Industry Promotion), and support for ICT companies and industries (Daejeon Technopark and Daejeon Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency)," and criticized, "Such overlaps not only reduce the scale of project budgets and policy effectiveness, but also cause inefficiency in budget management."

Ahn Kyungja emphasized, "Although there are laws such as the Act on the Operation of Local Government-Invested/Contributed Institutions and the Local Public Enterprises Act, as well as monitoring systems by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the inefficiency of local public institutions is repeatedly pointed out every year," and urged, "Daejeon City should establish more detailed management measures at the municipal level."