Lee Jae-myung "Selective Conscription System Should Be Introduced to Prevent Waste of Public Funds and Expand Youth Employment"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, argued that a selective conscription system should be promoted to reduce defense corruption and waste of taxpayers' money.

On the 4th, through a post on Facebook titled "We must promote selective conscription... Do not distort my words about eliminating corruption and waste as a call to reduce defense spending," Lee said, "A peninsula country like ours is located between maritime and continental powers, where opportunities and risks coexist," adding, "To avoid being swayed, autonomous balanced diplomacy centered on national interests is essential, which requires a strong defense capability of a prosperous country."

He continued, "To maintain a strong defense capability, we must transform into a smart military by securing advanced technology and high-performance weaponry and training highly skilled professional combat troops," and added, "I have long advocated for selective conscription for smart military development and youth employment."

In particular, he explained, "Selective conscription means maintaining conscription on top of the universal military service system, but giving young people who want to work the opportunity to serve as elite combat personnel and weaponry specialists in quality jobs instead of conscription," adding, "It is a measure that alleviates youth unemployment and considers fairness in military service."

Furthermore, he said, "Modern warfare is a battle of advanced technology, not the number of soldiers," and "Since cutting-edge weaponry, soldiers skilled in handling them, and excellent command determine victory or defeat, increasing defense spending is inevitable to train elite combat troops and modernize weapons."

However, Lee stated, "Some people misunderstand and distort my remarks at a press conference about minimizing costs in national administration and increasing public spending such as welfare as a call to reduce defense spending," and insisted, "What I meant was not to reduce necessary defense spending but to eliminate waste like defense industry corruption that burns the hearts of the people."

He warned, "Minimizing unnecessary waste and corruption is fundamental to national governance," and "Do not exaggerate and distort my remarks to attack with fake news."

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