Kim Jae-won "Lee Jae-myung, Korea's Key Currency? ... Gyeonggi-do Local Currency or Will Ruin the Country"

"Lee's Economic Knowledge Worse Than Heo Gyeong-yeong"
"Kim Man-bae's Recording? Interpreting a Con Man's Words Like the Bible"
"Ahn Seems Not to Have Completely Given Up on Unification"

Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party. / Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, strongly criticized Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, for his remark about 'reserve currency countries,' saying, "If you handle the economy with that level of economic knowledge, you will really ruin the country."

In an interview on the 22nd with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' Kim said, "I don't know if he thinks the reserve currency is like Gyeonggi Province's local currency or something like the Onnuri gift certificate, but his economic knowledge is really no better than Heo Kyung-young's. All he thinks about is how to raid the country's treasury," criticizing Lee.

Earlier, during the first official TV debate hosted by the National Election Commission the previous day, when discussing the appropriate national debt ratio, Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Party presidential candidate, asked, "Do you know the difference between reserve currency countries and non-reserve currency countries?" Lee replied, "Of course I do. Our economy is so strong that we are very likely to be included among reserve currency countries," sparking controversy. A reserve currency refers to a currency used as a basis for international settlements or financial transactions. Representative examples include the US dollar and the British pound.

In response to the controversy, the Democratic Party explained that Lee's remark cited a press release distributed by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) on the 13th. The FKI's document presents grounds for the Korean won to be included in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR) currency basket.

Regarding this, Kim said, "The FKI's argument is that among the five currencies composing the SDR, such as those of the US and the UK, there is a possibility for Korea to be included," but he pointed out, "This is completely different from being a reserve currency. It's as different as the dollar and Gyeonggi Province's local currency."

Kim also rebutted Lee's allegation of collusion between Yoon and Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu and a key figure in the Daejang-dong development project preferential treatment suspicion, based on Kim Man-bae's recorded statements. He said, "The content itself is what Kim Man-bae, who is in prison, babbled," and criticized Lee, saying, "Lee is the person who gave Kim, the biggest thief of national property since Dangun, profits in the trillions, yet he treats that person's words as gospel and uses them in the presidential election."

He added, "Do we have to interpret those swindlers' stories like biblical texts?" and emphasized, "Those people need to be properly investigated, whether by a special prosecutor or a national audit or whatever."

Regarding the unification between Yoon and Ahn, Kim said, "Looking closely at what Ahn stated in his press release, it seems he has not completely given up on unifying the opposition candidates," suggesting that the possibility of unification remains.

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