National Assembly Audit Halted After Rep. Boo Seung-chan's 'Fire Services Draining Finances' Claim

The Gyeonggi Province government audit at the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee was temporarily suspended on the 19th as ruling and opposition lawmakers clashed over Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae's 'fiscal straw for fire services' remark and whether she had properly apologized. 'Straw' is an expression used to mean sucking up tax money from other local governments. Governor Choo stirred controversy with a remark at the committee's Gyeonggi audit on October 13 that "fire services are like the biggest fiscal straw giving us headaches." She later sparked further controversy on the 17th, after paying respects at the mortuary of Firefighter Kim Jin-seok, who died in the line of duty fighting a factory fire in Bucheon, with comments to the effect that "since you wish for an apology, I apologize."

At the audit held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office in Suwon, Governor Choo, after her opening statement, once again offered her sincere apologies in her answers to questioning to the firefighters whose hearts had been wounded. People Power Party Rep. Kim Jong-yang, in his first round of questioning, criticized: "You made an unforgivable, insulting outrageous remark to firefighters. Saying 'I apologize because you ask me to' is secondary victimization—isn't it what's colloquially called a 'non-apology apology'?" He then demanded, "Express your honest feelings about what you think of your past words and actions concerning firefighters."

Democratic Party Rep. Moon Jeong-bok requested to speak on procedural grounds, countering that "content unrelated to the committee's jurisdiction should not be invoked as a tool of political strife." When Rep. Kim pressed, "Did you come here to speak for Governor Choo?", Rep. Moon shot back, "Did you come for a policy audit?", leading to raised voices on both sides.

The clash reignited by the 'draining' remark flared up again during questioning that resumed after a recess. Democratic Party Rep. Boo Seung-chan said: "The fiscal straw remark about fire services was a grave mistake, but she apologized sufficiently. Fire officers are national government employees, yet local governments bear about 90 percent of the budget—doesn't that mean they really suck the finances dry?" Responding to this remark, People Power Party Rep. Kim Eun-hye retorted, "People must have doubted their ears," to which Rep. Boo countered, "Look at the full context. This is still being exploited for political strife." As lawmakers from both parties joined the war of words, Chairman Bok Ki-wang declared a recess, halting the audit for about seven minutes.

The lines of the confrontation were clearly drawn. The People Power Party framed both the remark and the manner of apology as a matter of character, with Rep. Kim Mi-ae saying, "I cannot agree with a governor from the ruling party expressing, in words that bruise the hearts of fire officers, an issue that could be resolved in one team with the government." The Democratic Party, while acknowledging the mistake, shifted the focus to the budget structure. Rep. Jeon Yong-gi chimed in: "The nationalization of fire services began when Governor Choo was party leader. This opportunity should be used to bring the issue firmly into public discussion so it can be funded by the national budget."

Behind this lies a structural problem: local governments bear roughly 90 percent of the personnel costs of nationally employed firefighters.

Chairman Bok Ki-wang, referring to the late Firefighter Kim Jin-seok, urged: "I hope this audit will prove worthy of his dedication to protecting the community." Governor Choo had previously attended the funeral ceremony for Firefighter Kim in Bucheon and paid respects to the funeral vehicle.