Cheongju City Council has decided to cancel all official overseas trips by council members this year and return the related budget of 168 million won. The decision reflects the view that restoring public trust takes precedence over overseas training amid a series of recent controversies involving council members.
Cheongju City Council said on the 13th that, after gathering members' opinions, it decided to cancel in full the official overseas trips planned for this year and return the related budget.
The council had reviewed overseas training to examine outstanding policies and city management cases abroad and apply them to Cheongju's administration to strengthen members' policy capabilities. But with various controversies involving members continuing from the opening of the session, it decided to cancel this year's schedule in light of citizens' concerns about overseas training.
Council member Choi Jin-a, the Spokesperson of the council, explained that they decided to return the related budget based on the judgment that it is necessary to better allay citizens' concerns and make more thorough preparations to pursue overseas training.
Instead of overseas training this year, the council plans to directly examine major pending issues in Cheongju and strengthen legislative activities and policy research, including budgets, local government ordinance, and administrative audits.
Cheongju City Council Chair Im Eun-seong said that before seeking best practices abroad, this year the council will visit the field in Cheongju more often and closely examine Cheongju's administration and finances to find answers in citizens' voices.
If official overseas trips are pursued in the future, the council will strictly review the purpose of the trip, the institutions to be visited, the linkage with Cheongju's pending issues, and the prior research process to ensure that it leads to actual legislative activities.