Won Hee-ryong: "We Will Establish Autonomous Police and Others to Eliminate Overcharging Virus in Jeju-do"

Won Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju Province. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Min Jun-young] As the summer vacation season approaches, controversy over overpriced charges has arisen at some accommodation facilities in Jeju Island. Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong stated, "We will take strong measures to ensure that the entire nation can trust and travel safely."

In an interview with YTN Radio's 'Noh Young-hee's Start of a New Morning' on the 24th, Governor Won said, "Our emergency investigation revealed that the reported accommodation fees were excessively highlighted in relation to special package products. However, there is always a possibility of unreasonable prices appearing, so we will form special teams including autonomous police and tourism authorities to ensure that there is no 'overcharging virus' in Jeju."

He also reaffirmed his position to seek compensation from a confirmed COVID-19 patient from Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, who was diagnosed on the 19th after traveling to Jeju Island.

He said, "How can we tell travelers who come to Jeju for healing not to come? We welcome them. But they should come with common sense. This person had a high fever and took 10 fever reducers over two days. However, continuing to travel while taking fever reducers not only risks infecting Jeju residents but also makes it impossible to know how many people nationwide have been infected."

He continued, "If others get infected from that, it becomes a matter of life and death and whether society collapses. I hope people have some sense about this. When it becomes absolutely unacceptable, we are filing lawsuits. This is the second case following the first, and I sincerely hope there will be no third."

Regarding Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the Future Korea Party, mentioning Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, as a potential next presidential candidate on the 23rd, he said, "It means that those who have intentions as candidates should be at least like Baek Jong-won, who is a national mentor for self-employed people currently facing difficulties."

He added, "Baek Jong-won has come to Jeju several times and we have met. When I asked if he was interested in politics, he said he has no interest at all."

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