SUWON — Former Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon said the province's expansionary fiscal policy under his tenure "was not a mistake but a responsible choice," entering a debate over the province's finances.
Kim explained the fiscal principles of his administration in a social media post on the 15th, saying stakeholders should work together to find a sustainable solution for the province's finances.
Explaining why he had held back from commenting on the fiscal controversy that erupted with the inauguration of Governor Choo Mi-ae, Kim said he had "respected the time the new administration needed to set its policy direction and did not want to add unnecessary disputes for residents and the party."
Still, he drew a line between the fact that finances are strained and the attribution of that strain to the previous administration's expansionary spending, calling them separate issues.
Kim said expansionary fiscal policy had been a consistent principle running through both his term and that of his predecessor. He argued that provincial finances had to serve as a support for residents through the COVID-19 pandemic and the "triple crisis" of high interest rates, high inflation and a weak won.
He stressed that with the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's fiscal tightening, revenue shortfalls and cuts to local voucher-program (regional gift certificate) budgets and research and development budgets all overlapping, the burden would have fallen on residents had Gyeonggi Province also reduced spending.
On local bond issuance and fund borrowing, Kim said the province "did not simply take on debt but invested in residents' lives and Gyeonggi's future."
He said the province maintained support for livelihoods, care services and small business owners while continuing to invest in future industries such as semiconductors, renewable energy and the social economy. Road, rail and river projects, as well as the province's share of relief for damage from high fuel prices, were also necessary for residents' safety and daily life, he added.
Addressing Choo's criticism that some livelihood programs had been funded for only nine months, Kim said this did not mean the programs were being terminated.
He said the plan had been to review revenue conditions again during the second-half supplementary budget process and to supplement the remaining funding by adjusting less urgent projects.
Kim argued that the province's current finances should not be characterized as a crisis. He said Gyeonggi's debt-to-budget ratio stood at 12.86% in 2025, below the national average of 15.52% for cities and provinces and Seoul's 21.62%, and short of the government's 25% caution threshold for debt ratios.
He added, however, that the pace of debt growth and the rising liability ratio must be managed rigorously. He identified a weak revenue structure as the core problem in the province's finances: acquisition tax, which accounts for a large share of provincial tax revenue, swings sharply with the property market, while spending that is difficult to cut — including medical benefits, livelihood benefits and childcare — keeps rising.
Kim stressed the need to improve the local shared tax system and to allocate fiscal resources more rationally.
"If there were shortcomings in individual projects and their execution, I will accept that assessment," Kim wrote. "Nor will I avoid the fact that debt increased."
But he said the principle of deploying fiscal resources to protect residents when the economy and their livelihoods were shaken was not itself a mistake.
"I have left the post, but I do not believe I have left the responsibility behind," he said. "If it is about putting Gyeonggi's finances in order and protecting residents' lives, I will join in at any time."
