SUWON — Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae, who came under fire during a parliamentary audit of government agencies over a controversy about "siphoning" fire service funds, said on the 21st that she would "exercise greater caution in her words and actions" after her own Democratic Party of Korea issued a warning through its supreme council.
Choo relayed the position through Gyeonggi Province spokesperson Hong Eun-kwang on the afternoon of the same day, saying she would "humbly accept the party's decision to issue a warning."
"I will fulfill my duties as governor to achieve the original intent of my remarks — securing stable funding for fire services and strengthening firefighter safety during firefighting operations," Choo said.
On the series of press conferences held by labor and civic groups protesting cuts to welfare-related spending, Choo said, "In the early part of my term, I focused on supplementary budget work to secure essential livelihood funding that had not been allocated, and that made communication difficult in several areas." She added that she would "strengthen communication through the political affairs office."
She also said she would "hold consultations on understanding the current fiscal crisis and on ways to overcome it."
Regarding the provincial government's organizational reorganization, Choo said she would step up internal feedback and consultations with the provincial council.
"I will strengthen the gathering of internal opinions during the public notice period for proposed rules," she said. "I will also step up consultations on the possibility of changes to the jurisdictions of the provincial council's standing committees as a result of the reorganization."