Last Year's Head-Shaving and Fasting, This Time 'Innovation Task Force'... Gyeonggi Province Assembly Liberty Korea Party 'Will Scrutinize with Microscope'

The Liberty Korea Party at the Gyeonggi Province Assembly, which last year protested against cuts to welfare budgets by going on hunger strikes and head-shaving, is now targeting the 770 billion won supplementary budget cuts announced by Governor Choo Mi-ae.

According to the Gyeonggi Province Assembly and others on the 10th, the Liberty Korea Party plans to verify the scope and size of budget cuts by project as soon as the supplementary budget is submitted. The goal is to prevent people's livelihood projects from being cut again under the pretext of financial difficulties.

Governor Choo designated the province's finances as 'virtually insolvent' on the 5th and announced plans for structural reforms in spending of approximately 770 billion won. The plan includes halting one-time or patronage-based events and non-essential projects, and re-evaluating research services, private contracting and outsourcing projects.

The Liberty Korea Party plans to review detailed items during deliberations by standing committees and the Budget and Accounting Special Committee once the supplementary budget arrives. Bang Seong-hwan, the party's floor leader at the provincial assembly, said, 'We will examine each and every detail of how 770 billion won will be cut,' adding, 'We will receive detailed items on which projects are actually being cut and by how much, and conduct thorough verification.'

This is not the first time the Liberty Korea Party has taken issue with budget cuts. During the 2026 budget formulation process last year, approximately 446.5 billion won was reduced compared to the previous year, particularly in social welfare and women's affairs, sparking a 'welfare budget cut' controversy. Then-floor leader Baek Hyun-jong went on a hunger strike with no set end date.

However, this time the scope of verification will be expanded. Not only will they examine budget reduction details by project, but also look broadly at the overall financial situation that led to the cuts.

Floor leader Bang stated, 'If the cause lies elsewhere but the solution is found in cutting actual projects and saying 'it's virtually insolvent, so that's how it is,' then people's livelihood budgets become sacrificed. We plan to conduct thorough analysis and oversight to ensure that projects that are truly necessary are not sacrificed.'

The Liberty Korea Party launched the 'Sound Finance Innovation Task Force' on the 7th. Rather than finding the cause of the province's financial crisis solely in spending levels, they aim to verify whether revenue forecast methods led to budget planning that inflated revenues beyond actual income.

According to data presented by the Liberty Korea Party, local tax revenue shortfalls compared to budgeted amounts were approximately 1.4 trillion won in 2022, approximately 1.3 trillion won in 2023, and approximately 700 billion won in 2025. The Liberty Korea Party believes that despite large-scale revenue shortfalls repeating since 2022, the province failed to sufficiently adjust its revenue forecasts.

They also question the estimation method. Over the past three years, instead of using the average or median of all institutional forecasts, the province adopted its own estimates, and in 2026, applied the 'average of the top three institutions,' the party says.

The Liberty Korea Party plans to conduct investigations going back to the 7th popular election era. The reasoning is that the province's finances are heavily dependent on real estate transactions, parts conflict with central government policies, and revenue forecast errors have been repeated, making the structure inherently vulnerable. The party plans to examine revenue forecast standards from the 7th to 8th popular election eras, actual revenues, and the financial management process following revenue shortfalls.

Floor leader Bang stated, 'This is a 'human-made' disaster—ignoring market trends and statistical principles and allowing revenue shortfalls for politically expansionary finances. We will conduct a comprehensive review of the flawed revenue forecast system.'