Lee Jae-myung: "People Power Party deceives the public with fake basic income"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, pressured former lawmaker Kim Se-yeon, who criticized his 'basic income,' to present feasible alternatives rather than distorting his words.

He also strongly criticized some members of the National Assembly who, while supporting basic income, oppose small amounts as insufficient and oppose large amounts citing fiscal burden, calling them counterfeit basic income theorists deceiving the public with flashy wordplay.

On the 16th, Governor Lee said on Facebook, "Former (opposition) lawmaker Kim Se-yeon criticized my basic income proposal," emphasizing, "Basic income is both a welfare policy supporting household income and an economic policy that guarantees sustainable growth by stimulating consumption and alleviating sales polarization through extinguishable local currency, making it an unavoidable welfare-economic policy in the post-COVID era."

He continued, "Although unfamiliar and full of challenges, if basic income is deemed necessary, it is the role of politicians 'making new paths' to draw national consensus and find concrete ways to realize it," adding, "I have long advocated for the phased and gradual introduction and expansion of basic income considering fiscal burden, and I have never retreated or changed my position."

Furthermore, he said, "People who only know ducks and raccoons find it hard to believe in a duck-raccoon without seeing it directly, and it is wrong to attack someone introducing a duck-raccoon as a liar by saying it is not a raccoon by its head or not a duck by its body," adding, "I appreciate that former lawmaker Kim did not describe the payment of 250,000 won twice a year per person as a 'small amount of about 1,000 won' when divided daily, but it is regrettable that he disparaged it as 'only about 40,000 won' when divided monthly."

In particular, he rebutted, "For former lawmaker Kim, who has lived a lifetime without hardship as a billionaire, 40,000 to 80,000 won per month per person may be pocket change like a cosmetic sample, but for the majority of ordinary people who face extreme choices due to lack of food or are burdened by debt without savings, 2 to 4 million won annually for a family of four is a huge sum."

He added, "Basic income is not just household support but a welfare-economic policy that alleviates sales polarization and protects small businesses and local markets, the capillaries of the economic ecosystem, so it is unfortunate to criticize the amount as small," asserting, "While I agree the amount is insufficient, that cannot be grounds for abandoning implementation; if necessary, it is better to do even a little than to give up."

He also criticized, "People from the same National Assembly party as former lawmaker Kim argue the opposite, claiming that paying 500,000 won monthly is an impossible populism due to the enormous fiscal burden of 300 trillion won," adding, "They distort the claim as if I demanded immediate payment of the long-term goal of 500,000 won per month (6 million won annually) and then criticize its feasibility."

Governor Lee further urged, "Those in the People Power Party who say the name is basic income but propose selective payment, or who support basic income but oppose small amounts as insufficient and large amounts citing fiscal burden, are all counterfeit basic income theorists deceiving the public with flashy wordplay," and called, "If you do not oppose basic income but recognize its necessity, please present alternatives and engage in policy competition rather than distorting and attacking the words."

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