Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae has drawn sharp criticism after describing the fire department budget as "the most troublesome fiscal straw" during a national audit session. The fire department branch of the National Public Service Workers' Union said Choo had damaged the honor of firefighting civil servants and urged her to apologize immediately.
The union issued a statement Wednesday saying Choo had made the remark at the national audit hearing, calling the fire department budget "the biggest, most troublesome fiscal straw." The union called the comment "a grave insult that seriously damaged the honor of 70,000 firefighting civil servants across the country."
The union said Choo had dismissed firefighters — who work around the clock to protect the lives and property of the public — as a mere source of budget waste and a burden on public finances. "Personnel and operational costs for the fire service are essential expenditures directly tied to public safety," it said.
Choo made the remark Tuesday during a National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee audit of Gyeonggi Province. People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-jin had argued that the share of central government funding for the fire department budget should be increased in connection with Gyeonggi Province's declared fiscal emergency, to which Choo responded: "As you say, the fire department seems to be the biggest, most troublesome fiscal straw."
She added that personnel costs alone would consume 1.1 trillion won ($822 million) in 2027, with operational costs running to around 500 billion won, bringing the total fire-related expenditure to approximately 1.7 trillion won.
The union fired back, saying firefighters "silently dedicate themselves on the front lines of disaster scenes, battling flames." It asked: "How can the blood, sweat and life-risking sacrifice we pour out be dismissed as a local government's 'troublesome fiscal straw'?"
The union also said that if the real problem is the structure under which local governments bear a large share of fire-related costs even after firefighting civil servants were transferred to national employee status, the answer is not to blame the fire service but to demand that the central government increase its funding.
The union urged Choo to "offer an immediate and sincere apology before 70,000 firefighters" and called on her to "actively work to secure a full fire department budget."
Gyeonggi Province said Choo's remarks were intended to highlight the reality that local governments still bear most of the fire-related financial burden despite the transfer of firefighting civil servants to national employee status, while the share of central government funding has actually declined. "We are deeply grateful for the hard work of Gyeonggi Province's firefighting civil servants and will work to ensure stable funding for fire services," the provincial government said.
betterj@heraldcorp.com
