PPP targets Gyeonggi Gov. Choo over fiscal woes: 'Reveal the waste first'

The People Power Party's Gyeonggi Province chapter said Monday that if the province's finances are truly in a state of emergency, the first order of business must be examining the spending that caused the fiscal deterioration. "Gov. Choo must stop encroaching on the fiscal authority of the 31 cities and counties, and first disclose the extent of budget waste caused by the Lee Jae Myung administration and what steps she plans to take to address it," the chapter said.

In the statement, the chapter said Gov. Choo's top priority as a newly inaugurated governor was clear: conduct a full review of all projects and expenditures launched under Democratic Party rule — from the Lee Jae Myung administration through the Kim Dong-yeon administration — and cut unnecessary spending.

Rep. Na Kyung-won also criticized Gov. Choo, writing on Facebook that Choo had "begun building a case to shake down Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix." Na's remarks came after Choo, at the fourth Semiconductor Supergap Strategy Conference, cited both companies by name and demanded a substantial reduction in the volume of semiconductor wastewater they discharge.

Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok also weighed in on Facebook, referencing "mutual cooperation agreements" that Gyeonggi Province had signed with companies during President Lee Jae Myung's tenure as governor. "Before criticizing businesses, Gov. Choo should ensure that the promises made by then-Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae Myung are fulfilled without a hitch, and then make demands of the companies," he said. Lee added that ordering semiconductor plants to reduce their discharge would, in Samsung Electronics' case, amount to drying up the Osan Stream — a key waterway in Dongtan. "Samsung Electronics' Giheung plant has been channeling purified water into the upper reaches of the Osan Stream since 2007," he said.