The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs has frozen the 2025 Gwangbokhoe Hall management fee at the same level as this year. Considering inflation rates, this is effectively a cut, and the controversy over budget reduction is likely to continue following the Gwangbokhoe Academy budget cut of 600 million won. The Gwangbokhoe has objected, saying that the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs is trying to accelerate ‘taming’ by using the budget as a weapon.
According to the office of Rep. Kim Yong-man of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, the budget for the management of the Gwangbok Hall for next year submitted by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs was 3.027 billion won, the same as the 2024 budget. This is a decrease from 3.097 billion won in 2023.
When asked about the reason for the decrease in the 2025 budget compared to 2023, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs responded, “There is a need to consider the increase in land rent and building management costs, but this was not reflected in the government budget compilation process.” The reason for the non-reflection was not disclosed.
Initially, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs requested a budget of 3.698 billion won for the management expenses of the Gwangbok Hall next year, but during the negotiation process with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, 671 million won was reduced. There are criticisms that this budget allocation does not match the budget calculation basis directly presented by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs stated that the individual public notice price and rent for the land have increased by 6.0% and 11.4%, respectively, over the past five years, but froze the rent for next year.
Regarding this, a member of the Gwangbokhoe criticized, “The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs is constantly taking unreasonable measures while keeping an eye on the presidential office in Yongsan,” and “(The budget cut) will not go as planned, and it will only increase public resentment.”
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs explained, “The Gwangbok Hall is a building owned and managed by the state, and the Gwangbok Association only owns the land,” and “The Gwangbok Hall management budget, which was cut from 2023, has nothing to do with actual support for the Gwangbok Association.” It continued, “We have been providing the Gwangbok Association with land lease fees that exceed the individual public notice land price increase rate over the past five years.”
Reporter Yoon Myeong-jin [email protected]
Military expert reporter Yoon Sang-ho [email protected]
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2024-09-09 13:53:26