Jinin Joeunsan: "Lee Jae-myung Should Give Up This Presidential Election and Aim for the Next"

Photo by blog '塵人 Joeunsan's Record' post capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] 'Jinin' (塵人) Jo Eun-san, who wrote the 'Seven Proposals for the New Year,' told Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung on the 11th to give up on this presidential election and run in the next one.

On that day, Jo Eun-san wrote on his blog, "Looking at Governor Lee Jae-myung's Facebook feed, it seems he was quite impressed by the Netflix documentary 'Crisis of Democracy,'" adding, "Through the documentary about Lula da Silva, the 35th president of Brazil who came from a worker background, I think I can somewhat understand what Lee felt by watching the series of events involving Lula and his successor's involvement in corruption, biased media attacks, a sharp drop in approval ratings, and impeachment."

He continued, "However, I do not know which politician he focused on or projected onto during the documentary," and said, "The downfall of a progressive leader due to corruption charges is a crisis of democracy triggered by entrenched media and prosecutors, whereas the imprisonment of a conservative leader on corruption charges is a brilliant victory of democracy brought about by the great Candlelight Revolution."

Jo Eun-san also said, "Words like 'candlelight' and 'eradication of vested interests' appear frequently, but I am not sure whether the 'candlelight' he refers to means the candlelight protests in Gwanghwamun or the candlelight protests in Seocho-dong to protect Cho Kuk," adding, "I also do not know who exactly the vested interests refer to. Is it Cho Kuk, the originator of the 'Gabunggae' theory and the ender of entrance exam corruption? Is it Yoon Mi-hyang, the parasite of pain and healing? Is it the aristocratic labor unions with million-won salaries that exploit fellow workers? Or is it the senior government officials and Democratic Party lawmakers who own several houses in key metropolitan areas and are busy inflating real estate prices to increase their assets?"

He said, "As a leading presidential candidate and local government head, all his statements seem like extreme measures that cannot be realized without enormous sacrifices from a certain class, which often makes me feel dizzy," and added, "What makes him even more frightening is that after securing votes through universal welfare like basic income, he repeatedly makes threatening remarks toward opposing voices concerned about fiscal soundness and populism, while using quite sweet words and direct speech to freely stir emotions among his supporters."

Jo Eun-san addressed Governor Lee, saying, "How about giving up on this presidential election and aiming for the next one?" and added, "Lula, who came from a worker background, failed consecutively in presidential elections due to his radical leftist image but was eventually elected Brazil's 35th president after renewing his image as a centrist. You seem to like Lula quite a bit; do you want to become Korea's Lula da Silva?"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung is responding to a lawmaker's question during the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of Gyeonggi Province held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office in Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do on October 19. / Photo by Joint Press Corps

He continued, "Still, if you are willing to run in the presidential election, I propose a 'conditional basic income,'" and said, "Lastly, I suggest a 'shift to a pro-business politician' who revitalizes companies and induces domestic investment and employment expansion through business growth."

Jo Eun-san explained, "To take Lula as an example, after his presidential election in 2002, contrary to concerns that he would rush into leftist populism, he transformed into a pro-business market-oriented politician. He abolished regulations on companies, the main agents of employment, and reduced various taxes including export taxes. He also reformed labor unions in an attempt to enhance corporate competitiveness and simplified procedures for establishing companies," adding, "Thanks to his policy shift, Brazil ultimately avoided default, unemployment nearly halved during his tenure, and economic growth nearly tripled."

He added, "If that is the case, I would unconditionally support Governor Lee Jae-myung's basic income theory and am confident that I would submit membership documents to join the Democratic Party and come out as a member right now," and said, "I imagine Governor Lee Jae-myung transformed into a pro-business figure, his conditional basic income policy, and his unique fiery temperament supporting it."

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