Dead Last... Dead Last... Gyeonggi Province Administration in Shambles

In an evaluation of economic revitalization and disability welfare and human rights conducted across 16 cities and provinces, Gyeonggi Province recorded last place, leaving provincial residents with a bitter taste.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety recently evaluated local governments' first quarter economic revitalization performance, and Gyeonggi Province received the lowest grade of 'D,' ranking last among 16 cities and provinces along with Seoul.

After the Ministry of Interior and Safety assembled an evaluation panel to assess eight job creation-related policies and citizen livelihood stabilization measures such as price stability, the province received 'D' grades in both categories, disappointing residents.

Reflecting this situation, the Bank of Korea's Gyeonggi Regional Branch announced the region's first quarter employment trends, reporting that the unemployment rate reached 4.3%, significantly exceeding the national average of 3.8%, and the manufacturing sector lost 44,000 jobs, indicating a sharp decline in employment rates.

Gyeonggi Province also ranked as the most underdeveloped region in a research survey on disability welfare and human rights levels across 16 cities and provinces, scoring 51.22 out of 100 points.

The National Federation of Disabled People's Organizations, together with politicians including Rep. Yoon Seok-yong of the Grand National Party, Rep. Park Eun-su of the Democratic Party, Rep. Jung Ha-gyun of the Pro-Park Coalition, and Rep. Kwak Jung-sook of the Democratic Labor Party, conducted a joint research survey on disability welfare and human rights levels in 16 regions nationwide. Gyeonggi Province was found to score significantly below the national average of 57.14 points.

The results drew particular attention as they were derived from comparative evaluations of local governments' disability welfare policies and support systems by province, but Gyeonggi Province reportedly strongly objected to the findings.

Gyeonggi Province argued that the evaluation methodology was applied unfavorably to the province, claiming that because the evaluation criteria applied to all disabled persons rather than only low-income welfare recipients, Gyeonggi Province, which has a relatively smaller proportion of welfare-dependent disabled persons, received a lower rating.

In response to these arguments, disability organizations said, "This evaluation has been conducted every year, and raising questions about evaluation standards now is playing catch-up," and added, "Rather than finding fault with the results, the correct approach is to identify areas for improvement and make supplements."

Recently, as all people have increased interest in job creation amid economic downturn in Gyeonggi Province, it was revealed that the province was ignoring nationally-funded job creation projects, drawing sharp criticism.

The National Archives of Korea (Director Park Sang-deok) launched the nationally-funded "Finding Local History" project as part of the Hope Work Project initiative, with plans to hold a business briefing session on the 19th at the Central Government Complex in Seoul for civil servants from the Seoul, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, and Jeju regions.

Prior to this, the National Archives of Korea held a meeting with officials from 16 cities and provinces on the 7th to explain the project details, after which it was decided that provinces and cities would send official documents to their respective municipalities. For this purpose, the Ministry of Interior and Safety issued related guidelines on the 11th, and the National Archives of Korea issued them again on the 13th to all 16 cities and provinces.

However, as of 3 p.m. on the 18th, the day before the business briefing, Suwon City had not received the related official document. Yongin City received its document at 1:23 p.m. on the 18th, and Hwaseong City at 1:30 p.m.

Regarding this matter, city officials said, "We are working day and night to revitalize the local economy and create more jobs, but the province isn't properly conveying nationally-funded projects to the municipalities under its jurisdiction—does that make sense?" and "While they claim to be a superior government level, they seem to be thinking too complacently."

Another city official questioned, "Is it physically possible to receive an official document the day before and have the responsible civil servants attend a business briefing the next day?" and expressed dissatisfaction, saying, "This isn't even 1960s-70s military-style culture—it's too much."

Upon hearing this news, Kim Moo, 54, from Maegyo-dong, Suwon, said, "How can economic revitalization, welfare, and administrative capacity be so broken?" and added, "I have no words. In the next election, we should exclude party nominations and elect people based on their character," revealing strong distrust of Gyeonggi Province.

Yu Moo, 46, from Uman-dong, said, "Many people suffer in silence because their children can't find jobs—how can this happen?" and pleaded, "We elected representatives and pay taxes not to hear excuses but for them to understand the hearts of ordinary citizens."