"What Did I Do Wrong..." Jun Nak-yeong, Mayor of Gyeongju, Controversy Over "Extra Protective Suits" Lie

Japan's Statement on Quarantine Supplies Support Faces Backlash... Stirring Public Sentiment Again

Video briefing of Jun Nak-yeong, Mayor of Gyeongju.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Regarding the shipment of COVID-19 quarantine supplies to certain regions in Japan, Gyeongju Mayor Joo Nak-young, who has been criticized by public opinion, stirred up public anger by stating in a clarification statement on the 25th, "I don't understand what is so wrong about supporting quarantine supplies to overseas sister cities."

Mayor Joo expressed this grievance in a post on his SNS on the same day, saying, "Once the COVID-19 crisis is over, shouldn't we freely travel, engage in economic activities, and tourism with each other?" Currently, this post has been deleted.

He emphasized, "When I served as the Director of the Autonomous Administration Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province in 2005, I was the one who boldly declared the severance of exchanges with Shimane Prefecture in Japan, which claims sovereignty over Dokdo," and added, "It is truly baffling that I am being called a 'tochakwaegu' (pro-Japanese collaborator). I am simply a humble humanitarian hoping for peace and coexistence among the three East Asian countries: Korea, China, and Japan."

After listing the special relationship with Kyoto and Nara cities in Japan, to which the protective clothing sets were sent, Mayor Joo requested, "It is fine to criticize and attack me for various reasons, but please do not insult the entire city of Gyeongju and its citizens."

He explained the situation, saying, "Our Gyeongju is a region with nuclear power plants, so we stockpile a large number of spare protective clothing sets. Since these protective clothing sets are nearing their 3-year expiration and need to be replaced, we have sent 26,000 sets to several neighboring local governments including Daegu and Gyeongsan," and added, "Therefore, I instructed that if it does not incur additional budget, it would be good to send some to overseas sister and friendly local governments that are experiencing difficulties."

He expressed his grievance, stating, "I have never sent masks, which are export-restricted items to Japan, nor have I wasted taxpayers' money. Protective clothing is not a legally mandated stockpile item," and continued, "There are claims that we ignored support for Daegu, but as Gyeongju citizens who have supported Daegu with 5,000 sets of protective clothing and accommodated two large-scale residential treatment centers, this is heartbreaking."

Mayor Joo concluded, "In that spirit, the plan to support quarantine supplies to other friendly and sister cities in Japan will be canceled," and added, "In the future, I will be more cautious in all decisions, taking public sentiment into account."

However, Mayor Joo deliberately ignored the fact that the city's stock of protective clothing has decreased from the usual 58,000 sets to only 25,000 sets, while referring to them as "spare protective clothing," which sparked controversy over falsehoods. According to our investigation, compared to February, 30,000 sets were sent to support Daegu and Gyeongbuk, and 1,200 sets each were delivered to Kyoto and Nara cities in Japan, leaving only about 44% of the usual stock remaining.

Also, although he said it was "an additional budget-free matter" and "did not waste taxpayers' money," unlike the stockpiled protective clothing, the purchase of 2,000 protective goggles (googles) for the two Japanese cities Kyoto and Nara cost 20 million won in budget.

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