Cheongju council pushes Vietnam trip after vowing to cancel overseas travel
In short
Cheongju City Council is pursuing a four-night, five-day training trip to Vietnam on Oct. 23-27, with 14 council members among 20 participants and a cost of 31.23 million won, a civic group said. The Chungbuk Citizens' Solidarity for Participatory Self-Government urged the council on Oct. 6 to halt the trip, saying the council had promised two months earlier to cancel all overseas official travel this year and return the 168 million won budget. Newsis framed the plan in its headline as deception and trickery; neither document carries a council response.
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The Cheongju City Council is pushing a four-night, five-day overseas training trip to Vietnam on Oct. 23-27, with 14 council members among 20 participants and a total cost of 31.23 million won of public money, according to the civic group Chungbuk Citizens' Solidarity for Participatory Self-Government. The group urged the council on Oct. 6 to stop the trip immediately, Yonhap reported. Newsis reported the plan under a headline describing it as deception and trickery. [ 1 , 2 ]
The group said the council had promised only two months earlier to cancel all official overseas trips this year and return the entire 168 million won budget, and it called the renewed push “an act of deceiving citizens.” [ 1 ]
The group also questioned the itinerary, which it said includes visits to Vietnamese tourism resources and companies. It said it was not clear how these activities connect to Cheongju's pending issues or policy, and that the council should make clear what it will learn and how it will apply that to city policy. [ 1 ]
Yonhap reported that the council had said in August it would cancel all official overseas travel for the year in order to focus on legislative activity centered on pending issues and to study examples from well-run local governments. Neither document contains a response from the council or its members to the civic group's demand, and neither states whether the trip will go ahead. Newsis's article text dealt with an unrelated National Assembly audit and did not add details on the council's plan. [ 1 , 2 ]
Why it matters
The dispute turns on whether a local council keeps a public pledge to forgo overseas official travel and return the budget, so it is mainly a question of local spending and trust in the council. Because the criticism comes from a civic group and no council response appears in the documents, the practical outcome for the trip remains open.
Key facts
- The civic group Chungbuk Citizens' Solidarity for Participatory Self-Government said Cheongju City Council is pushing a Vietnam training trip on Oct. 23-27, four nights and five days. [ 1 ]
- The group said 14 council members are among 20 participants and that the trip will cost 31.23 million won in public money. [ 1 ]
- The group said the council promised two months earlier to cancel all overseas official trips this year and return the entire 168 million won budget. [ 1 ]
- The group called the renewed push “an act of deceiving citizens” and asked the council to stop it immediately. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The group said the itinerary — visits to Vietnamese tourism resources and companies — is not clearly linked to Cheongju's pending issues or policy. [ 1 ]
- Yonhap reported that the council said in August it would cancel overseas official travel for the year to focus on pending-issue legislative work and study examples from well-run local governments. [ 1 ]
- Newsis reported the Vietnam trip under a headline describing it as deception and trickery. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether the council will respond to the criticism or change the plan. Neither document contains any comment from the council or its members on the civic group's demand.
- Whether the trip will proceed as described. The documents describe a plan being pushed by the council, not a confirmed, finalised trip.
- The participant numbers, cost and itinerary details. These come from the civic group as reported by Yonhap alone and are not independently confirmed by another outlet.
- What Newsis's article said about the trip. Newsis's headline concerns the Cheongju council trip, but its article text discusses an unrelated National Assembly audit, so it adds no detail on this event.