Yeongdeok-gun chief targets early debt repayment, W1tr budget era

Yeongdeok-gun chief Jo Ju-hong announced Monday that he would pursue early repayment of municipal bonds and push the county's combined budget and investment to the 1 trillion won ($649 million) range as the top priorities of his ninth-term administration, with fiscal soundness and industrial restructuring as the twin pillars of his agenda.

Jo said he would work from a master plan aimed at simultaneously strengthening fiscal self-reliance and expanding the local economy. The plan targets early repayment of bonds currently scheduled for settlement through 2040 while scaling up the county's budget and investment to the 1 trillion won level to counter the threat of regional depopulation.

Yeongdeok-gun spent a total of 442 billion won on recovery efforts following the North Gyeongsang Province wildfires last March, including 80 billion won from county funds. To finance the reconstruction, the eighth-term county administration issued 69.3 billion won in municipal bonds, which have since tightened the county's fiscal flexibility.

To meet his goals, Jo outlined plans to boost productivity and competitiveness in the fisheries sector through a "smart ocean industry" initiative integrating advanced technology, while streamlining public support systems in agriculture through a "nonstop farming support framework" designed to raise farm household incomes.

He also plans to establish an energy-mix committee bringing together nuclear power experts, practitioners and local residents to openly discuss safety, environmental concerns, the use of support funds and regional development strategies, with the aim of building broad social consensus.

"What Yeongdeok needs right now is not simply whether to pursue one project or another, but for the community to reach a shared agreement on how to restructure the character and scale of the local economy, generate new value, and distribute that value across society," Jo said.

"I will spare no effort to draw up a master plan that is both realistic and efficient — one that revives the county's finances and economy and helps us overcome the threat of regional depopulation," he added.