A day before the Dongducheon mayoral election in Gyeonggi Province, candidates are clashing over budget figures for the Pyeonghwa-ro streetscape improvement project. The central dispute concerns the scope of "state and provincial funding secured," with the camp of Democratic Party candidate Lee In-kyu basing its claims on only Section 1 of the two-section project, raising questions about inadequate fact-checking.
According to the Dongducheon city government on the 2nd, the total budget for the Pyeonghwa-ro streetscape improvement project is 42.5 billion won. It consists of 30.4 billion won in state and provincial funds and 12.1 billion won in city funds. The project is divided into Section 1 (21 billion won in state funds plus 9 billion won in city funds) and Section 2 (9.4 billion won in provincial funds plus 3.1 billion won in city funds).
Lee's campaign committee issued a press release the previous day claiming that People Power Party candidate Park Hyung-deok had exaggerated when promoting "30 billion won in state and provincial funding secured." The committee said, "This project is a matching project with 21 billion won in state funds and 9 billion won in city funds invested," criticizing that "an amount that includes city funds was promoted as if it were entirely state and provincial funding secured."
However, this claim was confirmed to be based only on the Section 1 budget. The combined state and provincial funding for Sections 1 and 2 totals 30.4 billion won, which essentially matches the "30 billion won" Park promoted.
Park issued a statement the same day, rebutting that "the project planning materials clearly exist at the relevant city department" and calling it "a one-sided allegation made without verifying the facts." Park criticized, "He is engaging only in criticism without understanding the significance of a project that I began in earnest during my term to address long-unresolved civil complaints."
A similar pattern emerged in the dispute over the public rental housing budget. Lee's camp took issue with Park's record of "securing 118.6 billion won in state and provincial funds," arguing that "the Housing and Urban Fund must be repaid by the city." However, that project was selected through a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport public tender and received support, with a structure combining state subsidies and the Housing and Urban Fund.
"I urge candidate Lee to properly grasp Dongducheon's difficult fiscal conditions and to study relevant regulations, including the structure of central and local finance in the process of securing local budgets, so as not to expose further mistakes," Park said. "Rather than unverified claims, I ask voters to make a cool-headed judgment based on objective facts, the candidates' policies, and their track records."
