With an extreme drought prompting the national fire service mobilization order across South Gyeongsang, most members of the Gimhae City Council left for a training trip to Jeju Island, stirring controversy. As Gimhae moved to support water supply to farms by mobilizing even firefighting resources, some said the council's response was inappropriate.
According to the Gimhae City Council on the 13th, the council is conducting a two-night, three-day training program on Jeju Island from the 12th to the 14th. Of the 25 council members, 23 joined, along with 20 secretariat staff. The budget allocated for the trip is 41.49 million won.
The program consists of training such as hands-on council work using artificial intelligence (AI), budget and settlement of account review techniques, and practical administrative audits, as well as visits to the Jeju Environmental Resources Circulation Center, the Jeju Energy Corporation renewable energy promotion center, and the Jeju Museum of Art. An MBTI assessment was also included in the schedule.
The timing is the issue. Gimhae has recently suffered growing damage as a heat wave and drought overlap, including shortages of agricultural water. About 30% of the cultivation area for the region's signature crop, sweet persimmon, has sustained sunscald damage. As of the 12th, Gimhae-area reservoir storage was 27.5%, or 49.9% of the normal level.
In particular, the 12th, when the training began, was the first day that firefighters and equipment from across the country were deployed to South Gyeongsang under the national fire service mobilization order to support emergency water supply. In Gimhae, 20 fire trucks provided emergency water to farms.
Amid this, with most council members leaving the area to conduct training on Jeju Island, criticism emerged that their actions were out of step with public sentiment.
The Gimhae City Council said it was difficult to cancel or postpone the trip. Many first-term members serve in the 10th council, and with a regular session and administrative audit next month, they said pre-training was needed. They also explained that because the schedule had already been contracted, canceling or postponing would have posed practical burdens such as cancellation fees.
In fact, the training includes sessions on budget and settlement of account reviews and administrative audits for second-half legislative work. However, because the schedule also includes non-training items such as institutional visits and museum tours, debate continues over whether the trip is appropriate.
Not only the Gimhae City Council but other basic councils in South Gyeongsang carried out Jeju training around the same time. Uiryeong County Council also left for a two-night, three-day trip to Jeju on the same day as the Gimhae City Council. Haman County Council likewise conducted educational training on Jeju Island from the 5th to the 7th.