Sangju City Saves 4.2 Billion KRW from 141 Billion KRW in Project Costs
Through Pre-Contract Administrative Reviews
Sangju City in North Gyeongsang Province saved over 4.2 billion KRW in its budget last year by operating a contract review system that meticulously examines project costs before contracts are signed. This achievement has improved the city's budget structure by preventing financial leakage in the invisible stages of administrative processes.
Sangju City announced that, over the course of 2025, it conducted contract reviews for a total of 188 projects-including general construction, specialized construction, services, and goods procurement-amounting to 141.09 billion KRW, resulting in a budget reduction of 4.25 billion KRW.
The city explained that by verifying the appropriateness of estimated prices and cost calculations before project implementation, it fundamentally prevented the possibility of overestimation or unnecessary expenses.
The contract review system serves as a preemptive control mechanism to ensure local finances are managed more soundly and efficiently.
Sangju City strictly applies the system to contracts exceeding 300 million KRW for general construction, 200 million KRW for specialized construction, 70 million KRW for services, and 20 million KRW for goods procurement.
The review covered 98 construction projects, 39 service projects, and 51 goods procurement projects. Notably, in the construction sector alone, the city saved 3.77 billion KRW, accounting for the majority of the total savings and demonstrating the effectiveness of the contract review system.
Reviewing projects before contracts are finalized created financial flexibility worth billions of KRW. This is an example of administrative efficiency that curbed waste in the unseen stages, rather than through visible cutbacks.
Kwon Youngpyo, Director of Public Relations and Audit at Sangju City, stated, "Contract reviews are not merely procedures to reduce the budget, but a system to enhance project quality and the reliability of fiscal management. We will continue to rigorously operate the contract review system so that the savings can be reinvested in key policies and regional development projects that improve citizens' quality of life."
Going forward, Sangju City plans to further strengthen transparency and accountability in budget execution through the contract review system, and to focus its limited resources on areas that citizens can directly benefit from, thereby establishing a sustainable foundation for fiscal management.
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