PPP lawmakers in Busan tell Jeon Jae-soo to end 'rubber-band governance'

People Power Party lawmakers on the Busan City Council's Administrative and Cultural Affairs Committee issued a statement Thursday sharply criticizing the city administration for applying a double standard — invoking "administrative continuity and trust" to defend the long-running Saenggok incinerator project while simultaneously reopening the Sajik Baseball Stadium reconstruction for public review.

The lawmakers held a press conference at the council briefing room that day, urging the city to "immediately end the rubber-band governance of applying different principles to different issues." They said the ninth elected-term Busan city government was "undermining the principles and continuity of administration under the pretext of communication and review."

"Maintaining an existing decision on one side while shaking a project that has been pursued for years on the other is nothing more than administrative convenience," they said.

The lawmakers also took aim at the series of town hall forums Mayor Jeon Jae-soo has been holding recently, warning that the events must not "degenerate into a stage for building justification to revisit existing projects or promoting the new policies and vision of the ninth elected term" rather than genuinely answering citizens' questions and incorporating their views into policy.

They were particularly critical of responses given at a recent town hall forum on sports. A representative of small business owners had asked specifically about the reconstruction schedule, implementation plan, safety measures and impact on surrounding commercial areas for Sajik Baseball Stadium — but the mayor spent a lengthy portion of his answer explaining the need for and potential uses of a planned dome arena at Bukhang, they said.

"If a citizen asks about Sajik Baseball Stadium and the answer is only about the Bukhang dome, that can hardly be called communication," the committee members said. They pressed the mayor to clearly explain to the public what had changed and what problems had arisen before making any alterations or delays, noting that the Sajik reconstruction was a project the city itself had planned and for which it had publicly committed to ground-breaking and opening targets.

The lawmakers also stated their position that the Sajik Baseball Stadium reconstruction should be immediately normalized in line with the original plan, while the Bukhang dome arena should be treated as a separate project subject to thorough review of its feasibility, funding, location and operating model.

They issued four specific demands: an end to rubber-band governance that applies "administrative continuity" selectively depending on the issue; a commitment not to turn town hall meetings into platforms for promoting policy achievements; a pledge not to use public opinion-gathering as a shield for delaying decisions and avoiding accountability; and the immediate normalization of the Sajik Baseball Stadium reconstruction according to the original plan.