Yeosu Island Expo, with 70.3 Billion Won Investment, Faces 'Harsh Criticism'

Host Sunwoo Yoon-ho mentioned, “A total of 70.3 billion won was invested,” pointing out the low satisfaction despite the project's scale.

At the expo site, electricity supply was suddenly cut off, leading to numerous complaints from merchants.

Visitors also continued to point out the lack of attractions, contrary to promotional materials.

Criticism arose that the administration pursues projects in a 'false advertising' manner by setting excessive targets to secure the budget.

Lee Yoon-kyu mentioned, “It seems there are many 'false advertising' administrations,” pointing out the chronic problem of local government administration where the actual results are poor despite glamorous architectural renderings.

Lee Yoon-kyu explained, “Whether it comes from the national or provincial level, when it matches, our city just matches it,” criticizing the reality where basic local governments focus solely on budget establishment rather than project feasibility for matching projects.

Lee Yoon-kyu said, “They made it into something where you experience ticketing at a kiosk,” pointing out the discrepancy between the promotional content and the actual content.

At the campsite, electricity was not supplied properly, causing significant damage to merchants.

Heo Ji-hoon said, “Isn't it true that at the campsite, the power went out, and all the merchants' food rotted?” emphasizing the damage suffered by merchants due to inadequate preparation.

Heo Ji-hoon stated, “Chungju-man reportedly promoted this event in advance. The event site itself was not well-prepared, and although it was 5 months prior, issues like safety problems and discarded waste were included in the video.”

After the disclosure of influencer fees, including Chungju-man, negative public opinion spread. Despite the local government's explanations, the need for a comprehensive review of the 70 billion won budget execution was highlighted.

Lee Jae-neung said, “Shouldn't they be thoroughly audited on how their 70 billion won from national, provincial, and city funds was spent?” urging transparent budget execution.

Lee Jae-neung reported, “It was initially set with a goal of 3 million domestic and international visitors. But only 30,000 came on the first weekend,” adding that weekday visitors on Monday recorded 6,000.

As stated, “The Yeosu Island Expo is disastrous now. So, the same question can be asked about Lee Jae-myung's responsibility, just as the Democratic Party attacked at that time,” suggesting that political responsibility can be demanded with the same standards.

It was pointed out that the customary competition among local governments to secure national funding leads to flaws in project feasibility assessments.

As stated, “We usually call it a 'national fund grab' competition among local governments. They are busy inflating their targets just to get national funding,” indicating a strong tendency for local governments to exaggerate targets to secure national funds.

A proposal was made for the participation of private organizations to predict project feasibility and economic effects.

As stated, “I believe private organizations should initially present their estimates for project feasibility, project evaluation, and how much economic impact will result.” The opinion is that specific performance indicators such as re-visit rates and employment rates after the event should be calculated, and the abuse of exception clauses in the current evaluation system should be prevented.

As stated, “Because it's about targets, and while asking about the estimated cost, it's not about the answer to the number, but how it was calculated.” This demands a rational basis for setting targets.

The fundamental purpose of national subsidy projects is to develop the regional economy and create future growth engines, but current regional projects are not achieving these goals properly.

The speaker said, “If it failed, it means that the evaluation criteria themselves were flawed for national subsidies. So, the reason we pour national funds into these regions is to develop the regional economy and create future growth engines. But this is not being properly implemented, so we must see it this way,” emphasizing the need to improve project evaluation criteria.

Despite a 70 billion won budget invested in the Yeosu Island Expo, questions were raised about whether such a budget could attract enough visitors.

Regarding the 10 billion won allocated solely for marketing, the speaker stated, “You mentioned marketing, but 10 billion won is allocated just for marketing. These things cannot be verified,” pointing out the difficulty in verifying the causal relationship between marketing performance and visitor attraction.

This led to criticism of the local government's inefficient budget execution capabilities.

As public opinion spread that the event was uninteresting, a decrease in visitors was expected. Meanwhile, the possibility of artificial mobilization of personnel through corporate workshops and school trips was raised.

The speaker said, “Mobilizing people for an uninteresting event is like bothering innocent people. We need to monitor carefully whether such things are happening.”

To accurately assess visitor numbers for the Yeosu Island Expo, where tickets cost around 15,000 won, it was argued that paid tourists and free invitees should be separated for post-evaluation.

The speaker said, “The admission fee is about 15,000 won. So, it’s a pity not to know how many paid tourists there are. And how many free visitors come from institutions or organizations should also be separated and post-evaluated. Otherwise, they will just lump it together and issue a press release, saying 'tens of thousands of visitors, successfully concluded'.” This demanded transparent performance disclosure and prevention of inflated promotional claims.

The speaker mentioned, “As I engage in legislative activities, I often feel that local administration sometimes goes in directions that are not logical. This is because it is not properly monitored.”

They added, “Since there are few media outlets in the region that show great interest or have viral capabilities, there are many things that make one wonder if it's even proper administration.”

The speaker expressed the belief that local administration would improve if media outlets like PenNMicro showed interest and shed light on these issues.