[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that South Chungcheong Province spent approximately 70 million won this year on repair and maintenance for an apartment used as the official residence for Governor Park Soo-hyun, which has a market value of around 200 million won. This amount exceeds 30% of the apartment's market sale price. The apartment remained vacant since 2022 after being used by former Governor Yang Seung-jo and was repurposed as a residence following Governor Park's inauguration. South Chungcheong Province explained that the high costs were due to repairs required for facilities that had broken down after a long period of disuse.
According to documents on local government official residences obtained by BizHankook through a public information request, South Chungcheong Province spent 69.4 million won this year on repairs and maintenance for the Governor’s residence at the Lotte Castle Apartment in Naepo New Town, Hongseong-gun. Total expenditures, including public utility fees and management costs, reached 71.107 million won. The apartment, with a private area of 84.94㎡, was acquired by South Chungcheong Province in May 2011 for 221 million won. Currently, the market value for an apartment of that size is just over 200 million won.
The South Chungcheong Governor’s residence had been empty for years. According to the province, the Lotte Castle Apartment in Naepo New Town remained vacant since 2022 after former Governor Yang Seung-jo’s term ended. His successor, former Governor Kim Tae-heum, chose to rent a single-family house in Naepo New Town at his own expense instead of using the official residence. The province had considered abolishing the residence status for the long-vacant apartment, but reportedly decided to maintain it after Governor Park Soo-hyun expressed his intention to use it.
Locals have reacted to the repair costs as excessively high. An official from a real estate agency near the Lotte Castle Apartment in Naepo New Town said, "You can do a pretty decent job renovating it for 20 to 30 million won," adding, "For about 50 million won, you could make it look like a completely new house." Another official at a nearby real estate agency remarked, "Who spends 60 million won on interior design these days? Most people just spend around 10 million won for wallpaper and flooring."
A South Chungcheong Province official explained, "There were many things that were essentially unusable, and when you combine the costs to repair all the broken items, it seems the (repair and maintenance) expenses ended up being quite high."
Governor Park Soo-hyun is currently using the apartment residence for free. According to the South Chungcheong Province ordinance on the management and operation of provincial government buildings, the province can waive the full cost of residency fees if the designated official uses the residence directly. While the principle is that residents pay for operational costs, the regulations allow for management fees, taxes, and other operational expenses for the residences of the Governor, Vice-Governors, and facility managers to be covered by the budget.
South Chungcheong Province is not the only place that waives residency fees for public officials. An analysis by BizHankook of ordinances from 16 metropolitan local governments across the country shows that all of them have provisions allowing for a full waiver of residency fees for those eligible. However, only five regions—Seoul, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, South Chungcheong, and Jeju—include provisions to provide budgetary support for the residents' public utility fees and apartment management costs.
Governor Park Soo-hyun’s personal home is located approximately 60km away from the South Chungcheong Provincial Government building. According to public asset disclosures for high-ranking officials, Governor Park’s home is an 84.97㎡ apartment at ‘Gongju Wolsong Jipyeong The Well’ in Geumheung-dong, Gongju, which his spouse purchased last year for 430 million won. According to the 2024 Living Time Survey by Statistics Korea, the average daily commute time for those working in South Chungcheong Province is 1 hour and 1 minute round-trip.
The financial conditions of South Chungcheong Province are not favorable. According to the white paper from the 9th popularly elected provincial governor's transition committee, South Chungcheong Province's local debt as of this year's main budget stands at 2.3594 trillion won, with a debt-to-budget ratio reaching 18.93%. Compared to last year, the debt increased by 185.9 billion won, and the debt ratio rose by 2.46 percentage points. In particular, local debt, which was 1.1734 trillion won in 2022, has more than doubled in four years.
Governor Park Soo-hyun has also emphasized the difficult financial situation of the province. At a press conference marking his 100th day in office on the 12th, Governor Park stated, "Experts have diagnosed that South Chungcheong's current financial situation is the worst in its history," and added, "I will plan the budget as if wringing out a dry towel." He also explained, "I am personally inspecting nearly 700 detailed projects one by one," and noted that he is reviewing the timing for pushing forward large-scale projects and the disbursement schedule for adjustment grants to cities and counties.