Yom Tae-young Prioritizes Policy Issues over Political Disputes…Criticizes Personnel Backlog and Secures Gyeonggi International Airport Resumption

While the state audit was temporarily suspended amid ruling and opposition clashes over Governor Choo Mee-ae's remarks about "firefighting finance straws," Democratic Party lawmaker Yom Tae-young (representing Suwon) drew attention by intensively raising regional issues facing Gyeonggi Province, including personnel backlog, fiscal management, and Gyeonggi International Airport.

According to the National Assembly and Gyeonggi Province on Oct. 20, during the National Assembly Transportation Committee's audit of Gyeonggi Province held the previous day, Lawmaker Yom urged swift normalization of long-delayed senior-level personnel appointments and pointed out the impact of the province's across-the-board budget cuts on cities and counties.

Particularly on the personnel backlog issue, he did not shy away from frank criticism even toward Governor Choo, a member of his own party.

Currently, deputy head positions in seven cities and counties in the province remain vacant, while senior-level personnel appointments at the provincial government have been held up for months. Lawmaker Yom pointed out that approximately 220 promotions are stalled when combining vacancies at the 5th grade and above level and cascading promotion delays.

Lawmaker Yom stated, "The Gyeonggi Provincial Government cannot further delay personnel matters. I offer this honest counsel," urging normalization of personnel appointments.

His point was that civil servant promotion issues do not merely affect individual interests but can impact organizational operations and administrative continuity. He also highlighted that for civil servants nearing retirement, personnel delays can effectively mean a loss of promotion opportunities.

Governor Choo maintained her position that fiscal crisis diagnosis and organizational restructuring take priority. The explanation was that without financial support, even if personnel are deployed, substantive project implementation becomes difficult.

Lawmaker Yom also raised concerns about the province's across-the-board budget cut policy.

Lawmaker Yom pointed out that as Gyeonggi Province cuts provincial subsidy project budgets by a uniform 30%, 421 of 961 projects in cities and counties are affected.

Even acknowledging the necessity of fiscal soundness for the province, he argued that sufficient consideration must be given to fiscal conditions and characteristics of projects in each city and county. Accordingly, he recommended strengthening cooperation with basic local governments in the budget adjustment process.

On the Gyeonggi International Airport issue, he drew more concrete responses.

Lawmaker Yom emphasized the necessity of a new airport in the Seoul metropolitan area by explaining Gyeonggi Province's share in the domestic semiconductor industry and the aviation logistics structure concentrated at Incheon International Airport.

He cited as evidence that while Gyeonggi Province accounts for approximately 76% of domestic semiconductor industry sales, approximately 98% of semiconductor export volumes are handled through Incheon International Airport.

Particularly emphasizing that airport construction requires a long period, he stressed the need for preemptive measures considering Incheon Airport's future capacity and logistics demand of advanced industries in southern Gyeonggi.

In response, Governor Choo stated, "It makes no sense that Gyeonggi Province, which produces the most semiconductors and has sufficient advanced air cargo demand, has no airport," indicating her intention to continue pursuing the Gyeonggi International Airport project.

She explained that she has decided to resume the "Gyeonggi International Airport Candidate Site Analysis and Hinterland Development Strategy Research Project" that had been suspended due to controversy over fair selection of the project contractor.

Governor Choo said, "There seemed to be a misunderstanding about conflict of interest concerns, but the investigation found none, and the result was trustworthy, so we decided to resume the research project."

The province had previously selected three tentative candidate sites: reclaimed land at Hwaseong Lake in Hwaseong City, Seottal-myeon in Pyeongtaek City, and Moga-myeon in Icheon City, but suspended follow-up research as fairness concerns emerged in the project contractor selection process.

While the province's project implementation commitment was reaffirmed through this response, challenges remain, including actual research completion, reflection in the 7th Comprehensive Airport Development Plan, and securing community acceptance of candidate sites.

While the ruling and opposition became absorbed in disputes over firefighting-related remarks, Lawmaker Yom addressed practical issues directly affecting residents' lives, including the province's personnel backlog, fiscal management, and long-term SOC projects.

As the state audit drifted toward political controversy, Lawmaker Yom's identification of administrative problems and confirmation of specific policy implementation directions was assessed as salvaging the state audit's original purpose.