Jinseongjun: "Criticism of Park Young-sun's 'Unmanned Store' by the Opposition Is an Ignorant Remark"

Jinseongjun, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jumi Lee] Amid ongoing criticism from the People Power Party regarding Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party's Seoul mayoral candidate's proposal for 'unmanned convenience stores,' Democratic Party lawmaker Jin Seong-jun rebutted, saying, "(The People Power Party's criticism) is an ignorant remark that completely disregards the changes in the industry and our proactive preparations for them."

Jin, who serves as the head of the Strategic Planning Headquarters for Park's campaign, stated on the 26th during an appearance on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' "(The People Power Party's criticism) is a notion that shows no understanding of the Fourth Industrial Revolution era."

Earlier, on the 25th, after experiencing a night shift part-time job at a convenience store as part of his campaign activities, Park proposed to the store owner the operation of an 'unmanned store,' saying, "Instead of operating the store unmanned at night, if the working hours of part-time workers are slightly reduced and the part-timers are paid more corresponding to the increased sales at night, it would be good for both the store owners and the part-time workers." In response, the People Power Party criticized this as "a statement that hurts the hearts of young people who find it difficult to get part-time jobs."

Regarding this, Jin said, "It is true that there are concerns that jobs will decrease as factories, production sites, and business sites become automated and less manpower is needed," adding, "The concept that 'if robots and artificial intelligence are introduced to increase productivity, the profits generated should be shared with the workers' is something Park has been trying to introduce and spread since her time as Minister of SMEs and Startups through the concept of unmanned stores," dismissing the controversy.

He continued, "Introducing this concept does not mean that employed workers lose their jobs; rather, it means sharing and distributing the profits from increased sales with them. It also means that we should build and prepare this kind of economic system in advance," he added.

Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Seoul mayor, experiencing a part-time job at a convenience store. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Jin also introduced a new policy from Park. He said, "There is a proposal to advance the vaccination schedule for high school seniors to the summer vacation period," explaining, "Originally, high school seniors were scheduled to receive vaccinations in the third quarter, but since that period is close to the college entrance exam, if side effects occur after vaccination, it could be a big problem."

He added, "The proposal was made with the idea that moving the vaccination period to summer vacation would allow for more stable studying, and after suggesting this to health authorities, they said it was possible," stating, "The health authorities judged that by utilizing Pfizer vaccines administered in the second quarter and those to be received in the third quarter, the vaccination schedule can be advanced, so I think this is a useful proposal for citizens."

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