Kim Du-kwan "Realizing Federal-Level Decentralization... Towards a Country Without Privileges or Discrimination" [Full Text]

On the 1st, Representative Kim Du-kwan officially declared his candidacy, stating, "I will create a country where all regions prosper evenly through bold decentralization and radical balanced development."

Below is the full text of the declaration of candidacy.

Kim Du-gwan, member of the Democratic Party of Korea./Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

A country without privilege and discrimination,

I will become the president for the powerless.

A multi-polar decentralized autonomous state,

I will make it a country ranked 10th in quality of life.

Fellow citizens, party members and comrades!

I stand here with determination to renew the Republic of Korea.

Through bold decentralization and radical balanced development,

a country where all regions prosper evenly,

a country where the powerless are not discriminated against,

today I declare my candidacy for president.

Our country has achieved much.

We have overcome colonial rule and war to become a nation aspiring to join the G7.

We have blossomed democracy, and our national capacity to overcome a global pandemic

has earned the envy of advanced countries.

However, beneath the outward splendor, the truth is hidden.

There are two countries within us.

Inside the fortress walls is the oversized capital region,

and outside the walls is the non-capital region that is disappearing.

It was already predicted 10 years ago that local universities and local economies would disappear in the order the cherry blossoms bloom.

175 local universities are experiencing under-enrollment,

and the parched regional economies show no sign of recovery.

Non-capital cities, counties, and districts are heading toward extinction every year.

In 2020, 105 out of 226 cities, counties, and districts faced extinction risk.

The birth rate has plummeted, and the working-age population decreases by 330,000 annually.

It is a time that requires extraordinary decisions.

Above all, the one-polar capital region system must be dismantled.

The elite-centered monopolistic central politics must end.

I, Kim Du-kwan, will share all authority.

It is not that advanced countries decentralize well,

but countries with good decentralization become advanced countries.

We will reorganize the nation into a system of five ultra-wide local governments,

Jeju Environmental Special Autonomous Province, Gangwon Peace Special Autonomous Province,

and realize decentralization at the level of a federal system.

A federal-type local decentralization where central and local governments share power is necessary.

Taxation rights of local taxes must be returned to local residents.

The Candlelight Revolution demands more sovereignty

and direct democracy that grants more power to the people.

I will start a 1% bill national referendum system.

For the 1% of major bills submitted to the legislature,

the people must decide directly.

Anti-discrimination law, media reform law, land public concept, decentralization law, political reform bills

will be put to a national referendum.

In this era of transition, only a country that expands democracy

can create a future shared responsibly by the people.

I will eliminate clear inequality.

Eliminating asset inequality is the justice of the new era.

The Kim Du-kwan administration will help citizens build assets.

I will start a national responsibility system for one household, one home.

By creating a national mortgage system, everyone will be able to own a home.

Equalizing the starting point for youth is fairness.

I will implement a national basic asset system immediately upon inauguration.

All children born from 2023 will receive assets worth over 60 million won when they turn 20.

Fellow citizens!

Based on decentralization and balanced development,

I will make Korea a country ranked 10th in quality of life among OECD countries.

The era when national capacity was evaluated by economic growth is over.

The era when strengthening competitiveness in schools and society was the highest value is also over.

Neoliberal economic logic no longer has national persuasiveness.

Korea ranks 29th out of 40 OECD countries in quality of life.

Important aspects of citizens’ lives such as community, life satisfaction, environment, and work-life balance

require special improvement.

Now is the time for a major shift in national governance toward

a country ranked 10th in quality of life.

I will transform Korea from the world’s 10th largest economy

to a country ranked 10th in quality of life.

I will inherit the health insurance integration of the Kim Dae-jung administration, the expanded coverage of the Roh Moo-hyun administration,

and Moon Jae-in Care of the Moon Jae-in administration.

I will implement a national primary care system and expand nursing care insurance.

I will also establish a 100-year life committee.

The era of preparing life in three stages?education, work, retirement?is over.

We will prepare now for a country with an average lifespan of 100 years.

Old-age anxiety will disappear, and intergenerational conflicts will decrease.

I will create a Korean Peninsula free from war worries.

I will become a leading innovation country and the center of peace in Northeast Asia.

I will attract the G20 permanent secretariat to the border region.

In Northeast Asia, where powers compete for hegemony,

we will find common interests centered on the economy,

and create peace on the Korean Peninsula as a respected innovation-leading country.

Fellow citizens! Party members and comrades!

I will make the 4th democratic government a competent government.

I will reform old-fashioned, irresponsible, anti-reform politics,

and move forward with new politics.

From village chiefs to ministers and governors,

from village administration to central government affairs,

from grassroots sites to the National Assembly plenary hall,

I, Kim Du-kwan, who has brought change everywhere I have walked,

will now become the president who changes the Republic of Korea.

Please watch over and support me!

With reforms led by good people and a good president,

we will create the future everyone dreams of.

Thank you.

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