Gwangju City Councilor Kim Dong-chan's Policy Debate on 'Encroachment of Public Goods by Speculative Capital and Countermeasures'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] A policy forum was held to explore measures to protect citizens' benefits from the harms caused by speculative capital triggered by Macquarie Asset Management's acquisition of Haeyang Energy.

Kim Dong-chan (The Minjoo Party, Buk-gu 5), a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council, announced on the 6th that he held a policy forum titled "How to Respond to the Encroachment of Speculative Private Capital on Essential Public Goods" at the Gwangju City Council's main conference room.

Councilman Kim began by saying, "Last June, Macquarie Asset Management Co., Ltd., the very party that deceived Gwangju City and pocketed subsidies in the first section project of the Gwangju 2nd Ring Private Road, wasting citizens' tax money, acquired Haeyang Energy."

He expressed concern, stating, "When speculative capital owns social infrastructure with strong public nature, the benefits for users, i.e., citizens, inevitably take a back seat, and the damage inevitably falls on the citizens."

He further explained, "We have prepared a forum to discuss gathering opinions from the Gwangju City Council, Gwangju City, and civic groups on legal and institutional management and supervision measures such as future ordinance enactment."

At the subsequent forum, participants including Kim Sung-kyun, head of the Gwangju-Jeonnam branch of Korea Gas Corporation, and Ki Woo-sik, secretary-general of Participation and Autonomy 21, raised their voices through presentations and discussions, saying, "When there is a rate increase or a change in the business entity, the government or local governments should collect opinions and, if necessary, conduct reviews, or prepare rapid legal and institutional response measures such as limiting a certain percentage of speculative capital."

Councilman Kim said, "The stable supply and management of essential public goods correspond to citizens' basic rights, so they must be operated in accordance with the will of the citizens and in line with citizens' interests," adding, "Regarding the encroachment of speculative private capital on essential public goods, I will actively take the lead in preparing and improving laws and systems with citizens' benefits as the top priority."

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