(Jeonju = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Chae-du = The Jeonbuk Provincial Council, which was incensed by Jeonbuk Superintendent of Education Cheon Ho-seong's 'provincial council budget statement of 160 billion won', was found to have classified Superintendent Cheon's pledged budget of about 30 billion won as a 'problem budget'.
A problem budget refers to a budget for which deliberation and resolution have been withheld because the appropriateness and feasibility of the project are judged to be insufficient.
According to the Provincial Council on the 8th, the Education Committee reviewed the 2nd supplementary budget for the Provincial Office of Education's Education Bureau and Administrative Bureau for two days starting on the 7th.
The supplementary budget submitted by the Provincial Office of Education this time is 4.8471 trillion won, which is 141.5 billion won more than the previous budget.
Of the increase of 141.5 billion won, the project cost is 73.2 billion won and the fund is 68.3 billion won.
Of the 73.2 billion won in project costs excluding funds, the Education Committee designated about 30 billion won as a problem budget.
Representative projects include the above project to build a school counseling center (approximately KRW 700 million), the establishment of a career and advancement education center (approximately KRW 8 billion), the regional recommendation system for superintendents (approximately KRW 55 million), and support for an artificial intelligence-based edutech platform (approximately KRW 1.3 billion).
The Provincial Council explained that most of these were projects that Superintendent Cheon made as a pledge during his 9th popular election, and that projects that would cause harm to students were not included in the problematic budget.
During the review process, Rep. Jang Yeon-guk (Jeonju 4th) targeted the local recommendation system for superintendents of education and pointed out, "We should avoid 'no-questions-asked budget planning' where projects that need to be systematically prepared from the main budget stage are pushed into the supplementary budget just because they are pledges from the superintendent of education."
In addition, Han Jeong-soo (Iksan 4) criticized the budget for the Children's Forest Ecological Play Experience Center, saying, "The repeated process of setting the budget, cutting it, and re-organizing it is evidence that prior preparations were poor or that the budget is being prepared based on political judgment."
Projects pointed out as problematic budgets will undergo coefficient adjustment on the 9th and review by the Budget and Settlement Special Committee, which will be held from the 10th.
It is difficult to revive the budget without the consent of lawmakers who have traditionally pointed out the budget as problematic.
An official from the Provincial Council expressed the sentiment, saying, “I think there will be quite a few projects that will be revived through coefficient adjustment and the Budget and Accounts Committee.”
Meanwhile, when Superintendent Cheon announced at a press conference on the 26th of last month, "According to the transition committee's analysis, the (inappropriate) budget of the Office of Education related to provincial council members is approximately 160 billion won over the past four years," the Provincial Council defined this as 'insulting legislative activities' and predicted sharp budget deliberation and resolution.
As the problem arose, Superintendent Cheon lowered his stance on the 31st of last month, saying, "We will show solidarity and cooperation while respecting the Provincial Council more." However, as the Provincial Council demanded an official apology, the flames of conflict have not been extinguished.
