Lee Jae-myung "Disappointed by Ahn Cheol-soo's Economic Perception, Reminds Me of MB"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, fired a direct shot at Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, who disparaged the promotion of a public delivery app as a 'populist idea,' saying it reminded him of former President Lee Myung-bak, who ruined fair competition and was obsessed with pursuing the interests of economic strongmen.

On the 10th, Lee posted on Facebook a message titled "Disappointed in Leader Ahn Cheol-soo’s Economic Perception. Why not develop the public app together?" explaining the situation by saying, "Three companies?Baedal Minjok, Baedaltong, and Yogiyo?that dominate 99.9% of the delivery app market were pushing for a corporate merger and unilaterally tried to raise fees to make excessive profits."

He added, "Gyeonggi Province is pushing for the development of a public app as a last resort to support small and medium-sized merchants in the province and prevent damage to residents, while urging the Fair Trade Commission to impose merger restrictions and measures to curb abuse of market dominance, as well as calling for legislation at the National Assembly to stop this monopolistic tyranny."

Lee particularly criticized Ahn’s remarks by stating, "As the delivery app market became 100% monopolized, Baedal Minjok used its dominant position to unilaterally set prices, threatening the market economy order, which is the core of capitalism, and exploited many vulnerable parties in an anti-market manner. Anyone with even a basic understanding of capitalist market economy knows that when the invisible hand of fair competition is destroyed, it is the government’s role to restore normalcy."

He continued, "In capitalist countries like the United States, monopolies are forcibly broken up to encourage competition. Western European countries, which are not socialist, frequently nationalize major companies, and South Korea also holds government shares in Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). The public delivery app promoted by Gyeonggi Province is not directly created and operated by the province but is established and run by utilizing public assets such as the local currency network while leveraging private technology and management know-how. Therefore, there is no reason to criticize it as anti-market or curse it with failure, nor will that happen."

He added, "The public app promoted by Gyeonggi Province will function as a positive force to curb monopoly tyranny and restore market order against the 100% monopolized delivery apps, just as Gunsan’s Baedal-ui Myeongsu is taking root, and it will surely succeed."

Furthermore, he said, "Despite slanders that it supports gangsters or gift certificate fraud, Seongnam’s local currency has spread nationwide and become a successful policy that revitalizes the local economy. The basic income, once dismissed as the delusion of foolish communists, is now taking root in the hearts of the people. Seeing Leader Ahn’s pessimistic remarks, close to a curse that 'the public app will pay a harsh price,' I felt that he remains stuck in a past era that pursued profit over public interest."

He also fired another direct shot, saying, "It reminds me of former President Lee Myung-bak, who prioritized making money over public interest, shouted ‘corporate-friendly,’ ruined fair market competition, and was obsessed with pursuing the interests of economic strongmen."

Finally, Lee proposed to Ahn, "Let’s break away from the past and work together to develop a public app to protect small and medium-sized merchants suffering from monopoly tyranny and restore a fair market economy order."

Earlier, on the 10th, Leader Ahn criticized local governments’ plans to create a public delivery app to compete with the delivery app Baedal Minjok through internet SNS such as Facebook and Twitter, saying, "Local governments stepping in to create a public app by appealing to popular sentiment is an intrusion into the market’s domain," and warned, "The price of populism will be harsh."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.