Kim Jin-tae Directly Criticizes 'Chuncheon Water Outage Crisis' and 'Debt-Ridden Gangwon Provincial Government'

"Ijaesu Mayor and Choimunsun Governor, the Epitome of Total Incompetence" Criticism

Kim Jin-tae, the Chuncheon City Party Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, held an emergency press conference on the 25th regarding the Chuncheon City water outage and Gangwon Province's financial issues. [Provided by People Power Party Gangwon Province Office]

[Asia Economy Reporter La Youngcheol] Kim Jintae, Chairman of the People Power Party Chuncheon City Party Members' Council, criticized both Lee Jaesu, Mayor of Chuncheon, and Choi Moonsoon, Governor of Gangwon Province, mentioning the 'Chuncheon tap water crisis' and the 'debt-ridden Gangwon provincial government.'

On the afternoon of the 25th, Chairman Kim held an emergency press conference at the People Power Party Gangwon Provincial Office and publicly criticized Mayor Lee Jaesu regarding the recent tap water crisis in Chuncheon city.

Targeting Mayor Lee, Chairman Kim stated, "He is the embodiment of total incompetence; I hope he just finishes his remaining term without further incidents." He added, "He is the same age as me, and when he was independent, it wasn't this bad, but after joining the Democratic Party, he changed strangely."

He continued, "He turned Chuncheon, the city of water, into a city of water chaos. The emperor-like protocol for massage chairs and the total failure of city buses are just the previews," and directly criticized, "An innocent life was lost in the Uiamho aquatic plant island accident, the water outage caused the worst inconvenience to citizens, and the relocation of the sewage treatment plant sparked explosive conflicts among residents."

Chairman Kim particularly criticized, "Despite being the disaster control tower leader, during the water outage recovery period, he attended a wedding of an acquaintance in Wonju, where a confirmed case emerged, leading to self-quarantine," and said, "This reveals a lack of crisis response ability and shows problems with the mayor's leadership."

He also pressured Mayor Lee by stating, "The exact cause of the water outage has still not been identified, indicating poor supervision of technical issues. Citizens are proceeding with a class-action lawsuit for damages, and People Power Party city council members are preparing criminal charges against the mayor for dereliction of duty and abuse of power."

The People Power Party Chuncheon City Party plans to request a public audit from the Board of Audit and Inspection as a self-help measure after the Democratic Party city council rejected the formation of a 'Special Committee for the Investigation and Countermeasures of the Water Outage Incident.'

Earlier, on the 15th, Mayor Lee Jaesu officially apologized at a press conference, saying, "Tap water is directly related to citizens' lives and small business operations, so the operation and management status should have been thoroughly checked in advance. I apologize for the great inconvenience caused by the unprecedented city-wide water outage."

Chairman Kim also continued his criticism of Governor Choi Moonsoon. He said, "A few days ago, a forum was held regarding the sale of Legoland and Alpensia," emphasizing, "Alpensia was sold at a low price to a company whose actual existence is unclear. Circumstances of a side agreement have surfaced, and the case has been reported for bid interference and violation of the Fair Trade Act."

Chairman Kim further pointed out, "While denying that the Korea-China Complex Cultural Town is a 'Chinatown,' the project was canceled, but the Gangneung Jeongdongjin China Dream City and Yangyang Chinese Artists Village projects are still being pursued."

He then sharply stated, "The Gangwon-type megacity plan is not something a governor with less than a year left in office should be pushing. I hope he focuses on the current issues that need to be handled well."

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