SUWON — A civic group filed a criminal complaint with police on the 15th against Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae, who has faced criticism over spending on a high-end official residence and vehicle during a declared fiscal emergency.
Citizens' Action for Restoring Judicial Justice said it held a press conference that morning in front of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency and filed a complaint accusing Choo of abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights, breach of trust, loss of public funds under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and defamation through false statements under the Information and Communications Network Act.
The group said Choo "declared a fiscal emergency in Gyeonggi Province on the 5th of last month, one month after taking office, and then moved to restructure 545.6 billion won in spending." It said the process included delaying regular personnel reshuffles for the second half of the year, cutting the budget for a civil servants' athletic event, and halting a 500,000 won postpartum care subsidy.
The group argued that, contrary to this austerity stance, Choo signed a jeonse (a Korean lease system requiring a large lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent) contract for a 156-square-meter apartment in the Gwanggyo area as an official residence using 1.22 billion won in provincial funds, and also purchased an expensive official vehicle. It criticized this as "a double standard, cutting welfare spending for residents while spending provincial funds on the governor's own accommodations."
The group also cited the cases of previous governors. It said former Governor Kim Dong-yeon paid for a jeonse lease on an apartment near the provincial government complex out of his own pocket and opened the existing official residence as a space for engaging with residents. It said former Governor Lee Jae-myung and former Governor Nam Kyung-pil likewise did not use the official residence as a home.
The group argued that Choo abused her budget authority by abruptly halting the postpartum care subsidy and incurring excessive residence costs, thereby obstructing residents' rights and civil servants' fair exercise of budget authority.
On the breach of trust allegation, the group argued that she violated the principle under the Local Finance Act that local governments must manage finances soundly and efficiently. Specifically, it said she "caused losses to Gyeonggi Province by spending provincial funds to secure an official residence of excessive size for a single occupant."
On the allegation of loss of public funds, the group said she "allowed excessive jeonse costs to be spent while aware that losses could occur to Gyeonggi Province."
The group also took issue with remarks Choo made on the 12th of this month at a memorial service for victims of the democratization movement in Gyeonggi Province, held at Moran Park in Namyangju. Choo was reported to have said of President Lee Jae-myung, "Why is he relying on these forces and agonizing over it?"
The group argued that the remark could create the impression that the president lacks the will to root out insurrection or is compromising with insurrectionist forces, and that it therefore constitutes defamation through false statements.
The group urged police to conduct a thorough investigation and impose strict punishment, saying "equality before the law must not be applied differently to a sitting governor."
