Gwangju Local Council Members Demand Apology from Governor Lee Jae-myung for Remarks Stirring Regional Sentiment

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Some city and district council members in Gwangju Metropolitan City held a press conference on the 5th to condemn Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's remarks on the 'Yeongnam reverse discrimination.'

Earlier, on the 1st, when Lee declared his candidacy for the presidential election and visited Andong, Gyeongbuk, he stated, "In the past, when the military dictatorship regime divided Yeongnam and Yeongho-nam as a governance strategy and discriminated, Yeongnam may have relatively benefited, but now Yeongnam is rather experiencing reverse discrimination."

In response, some Gwangju city and district council members criticized, "This is an irresponsible remark that regresses Korean political history to a past regressive political situation," and added, "We cannot hide our deep disappointment toward Governor Lee, who has repeatedly pointed out the problems of Korean politics and is a presidential candidate of a major political party."

They continued, "Lee consistently defended himself by saying he was explaining the situation between the metropolitan area and Yeongnam, not the reverse discrimination between Yeongnam and Yeongho-nam," and said, "Seeing him make excuses to avoid a difficult situation rather than apologizing to the public for his mistaken thoughts, we cannot help but doubt whether he is truly a politician running for president."

They added, "Governor Lee should apologize to the public for his ruinous remarks that incite 'regional sentiment,' and step out of regressive political behavior to become a responsible politician."

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