Kim Jong-cheol, Leader of the Justice Party, "In the April By-elections, We Will Take Responsibility for the Lives of Seoul and Busan Citizens with 'Policy,' Not Presidential Ambition"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Justice Party announced that it will take responsibility for the lives of Seoul and Busan citizens through concrete 'policies' in the upcoming April by-elections for the mayors of Seoul and Busan.

On the 20th at 10 a.m., Justice Party leader Kim Jong-cheol pointed out during the live-streamed '2021 New Year Press Conference' on YouTube, "Most candidates for Seoul mayor from the two major parties are trying to use the by-election as a stepping stone to realize their presidential ambitions," adding, "We will demonstrate the capability of a ruling party that overcomes crises and prepares for the future through bold policies in the Seoul and Busan by-elections."

Leader Kim said, "There is no space allowed for the majority of citizens in the skyscrapers of reconstruction and redevelopment that they (the two major parties) want to build," and added, "The Justice Party will implement concrete policies to overcome inequality, COVID-19, and the climate crisis, and take responsibility for the lives of Seoul and Busan citizens."

Regarding the presidential election, he proposed the introduction of a 'runoff voting system.' Kim pointed out, "In the last local election, the Democratic Party won 92% of the Seoul Metropolitan Council and 94% of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council, resulting in an unprecedented winner-takes-all outcome, but the Democratic Party's vote share in party votes was only 51% and 53%, respectively," and said, "The lives of Seoul and Gyeonggi residents will never improve in a distorted council."

He continued, "The presidential election runoff voting system will reduce wasted votes and also enable cooperation with the ruling power," emphasizing, "The Justice Party will actively work to legislate the presidential election runoff voting system and the proportional representation system linked to metropolitan councils."

Along with this, the Justice Party has set a plan to definitely introduce 'universal income insurance' this year. Leader Kim said, "We will introduce 'universal income insurance,' a social insurance based on income that truly includes all citizens, from special employment workers, platform workers, freelancers, to self-employed, beyond the existing employment insurance, to protect the lives of all citizens." He pointed out that the government's 'universal employment insurance' has a similar direction but expands the coverage step by step, which means self-employed, special employment workers, and freelancers will be pushed to later stages.

Kim criticized, "Such measures cannot guarantee the lives of workers and self-employed people in the era of crisis after the COVID-19 pandemic." In addition, he pledged to pass the 'Housing Benefit Amendment Bill,' which was primarily proposed by Representative Shim Sang-jung, within this year. This bill aims to provide housing benefits to young households living apart from their parents and citizens with up to 60% of the median income. Leader Kim said, "The biggest problem with nearly 33 real estate measures announced by the government is not that house prices were not controlled, but that housing insecurity among ordinary people continues," and added, "We will enter a 'housing security society.'"

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