[2025 National Assembly Audit]
Representative Jeong Yeon-wook: “All Key Project Expenses Shifted to Busan City”
“Contingency Funds and Emergency Allocations Needed”
Seoul, Oct 16 (Edaily, Reporter Jang Byung-ho) – The upcoming UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting scheduled to be held in Busan next year is less than a year away, yet the hosting agency, the National Heritage Administration, has not secured a single penny of funding.
During a national audit of the National Heritage Administration on the 16th, Representative Jeong Yeon-wook of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee, criticized, “The National Heritage Administration had planned to start budgeting from July, but in reality, they have not prepared any funds,” adding that “Securing the meeting but then leaving the financial burden to Busan City is an irresponsible administration.”
According to Rep. Jeong, due to the lack of funds to be used this year, the National Heritage Administration has offloaded all core project costs for meeting preparations, such as domestic and international promotion and research services for the declaration preparation, to Busan City. In response, Busan City is continuing preparations by organizing a supplementary budget to ensure the event’s success.
Rep. Jeong pointed out, “Even if the budget is approved, it is expected to be executable only by January-February 2026, yet the UNESCO inspection team plans to visit twice in January and April next year.” He questioned, “Will you receive the inspection team without a budget, or will you rely on Busan’s funds for the inspection?”
Furthermore, the ‘Preparation Planning Group’, which is supposed to oversee the conference preparations, was initially scheduled to launch in July, but over two months have passed with no formation. As a result, preliminary procedures, including establishing the basic plan and consultations with UNESCO, are essentially at a standstill.
Rep. Jeong stressed, “It is abnormal for local governments to execute temporary funds for national events,” stating “The hosting agency, the National Heritage Administration, must immediately devise response measures at the national level, such as contingency fund allocation or emergency transfers.”
In response, Minister Heo Min of the National Heritage Administration expressed regret, saying, “It is unfortunate that we could not allocate contingency funds,” and added, “The World Heritage Division is separately working on it with a budget.”