Twelve projects proposed directly by residents of Ongjin-gun County are now on track to be included in the county's budget for next year. Ongjin-gun County (Governor Jang Jeong-min) held the "2026 1st Ongjin-gun Resident Participatory Budgeting Committee" meeting in the mid-sized conference room at the county office on the 13th, where members reviewed and approved 12 resident-proposed projects totaling 800 million won.
 [The Korean Today] 2026 1st Ongjin-gun Resident Participatory Budgeting Committee meeting © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
The county plans to request that the approved projects be included in its 2027 main budget. If they are finalized after the county council's budget review, local issues that residents identified in their daily lives will be turned into actual projects.
The approval marked the final step in a months-long process. From February to May this year, the county accepted project proposals from residents and received a total of 57. The department responsible for each proposal reviewed it closely for feasibility and other factors, after which the proposals went through deliberation by regional committees in each of the county's seven myeon (townships) and a vote at a residents' general assembly. In the end, the 57 proposals submitted were narrowed down to 12.
The committee meeting was held in two parts. First, members received a status report on the 2026 participatory budgeting projects currently under way this year, and then they deliberated on the draft participatory budget for the 2027 main budget. After review, the members finalized 12 projects.
 [The Korean Today] Resident Participatory Budgeting Committee deliberations © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
The participatory budgeting system allows residents to take part directly in the budget-drafting process. It is significant in that residents do not simply review projects decided by the administration after the fact, but instead propose projects first and help set their priorities. In Ongjin-gun County, whose seven myeon are spread across different islands, the process of going through the township-level regional committees serves as a channel for reflecting the different living conditions and needs of each island in the budget.
Ongjin-gun County Deputy Governor Lim Hyun-taek said, "The participatory budgeting system is an important process of resident self-governance in which residents themselves identify local problems and seek solutions." He added, "We will continue to expand opportunities for resident participation and work to ensure that residents' voices are substantively reflected in policies and budgets."
The key question going forward is how fully the 12 approved projects will be reflected when next year's main budget is drawn up. As residents gain more experience of seeing their proposals turn into actual projects, their interest and participation in the participatory budgeting system are also expected to grow.
[ Reporter Kim Mi-hee: incheonsouth@thekoreantoday.com ]
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