Justice Party Gwangju Branch Criticizes Lee Jae-myung's Remarks on 'Jeon Du-hwan's Economic Achievements'

"Candidates Who Abandon Values to Gain Votes Are Mere Politicians"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Justice Party Gwangju Metropolitan City Branch strongly criticized Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, for his remark on the 'economic achievements of Jeon Du-hwan.'

The Justice Party Gwangju Branch issued a statement on the 13th, saying, "Lee's comment in Gyeongnam that 'Jeon Du-hwan's economic achievements are accomplishments' is not much different from last month's remark by Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party candidate, who said Jeon Du-hwan did well except for the May 18 incident."

It added, "Ahn Min-seok, the Democratic Party's election campaign headquarters general special advisor, is rather defending Lee Jae-myung's remarks by saying history should be viewed in a balanced way," and questioned, "Is Jeon Du-hwan merely a historical figure to the Democratic Party of Korea and Lee Jae-myung?"

The city branch stated, "The victims and bereaved families of the May 18 Gwangju Uprising have suffered for over 41 years," and "Attempts to find merits in Jeon Du-hwan in such circumstances only dilute the evaluation that he was a figure who killed Gwangju citizens, usurped the presidency, and ruled with a dictatorial regime that oppressed citizens."

It also emphasized, "The common claim by candidate Yoon and candidate Lee that 'Jeon Du-hwan did well economically' is not true," adding, "The three lows?low interest rates, low oil prices, and low dollar?were a global trend at the time, and well-trained workers, thanks to Confucian culture and educational zeal, were the foundation of economic growth in the 1980s."

Furthermore, it criticized, "If Jeon Du-hwan had done the economy so well, could the IMF economic crisis have occurred about ten years later?" and "Moreover, the forced establishment of enterprise-specific labor unions under Jeon Du-hwan's regime initiated the deepening labor polarization between large and small enterprises and between primary and subcontractors in the workplace. It is no exaggeration to say that the greatest inequality and unfairness issues currently faced by Korean society began under Jeon Du-hwan's regime."

It continued, "Lee Jae-myung surely understands the severity associated with the name Jeon Du-hwan," and "Downplaying Jeon Du-hwan's merits and controversies as a black-and-white issue contradicts his own words. Discarding one's values to gain votes by claiming everything one says is right without logical grounds is something only a politician would do," it added.

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