Lee Jae-myung "Thanks to Hong Jun-pyo... Political significance 'sharply' increased when free school meals were stopped"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is appealing for support at a concentrated campaign rally held on the 27th in front of the heart sculpture next to Jude's Taehwa in Busanjin-gu, Busan.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed gratitude to Hong Joon-pyo, a member of the People Power Party, for increasing his political significance.

On the 27th, during a campaign rally at Sangnam Fountain Square in Changwon, Gyeongnam, Lee said, "When Hong was the governor of Gyeongnam, he closed Jinju Medical Center, but at that time we were building a municipal medical center, and the contrast benefited us relatively."

Lee emphasized the importance of public healthcare, saying, "How necessary public healthcare is during these difficult times," and asked, "Have you heard about the outstanding performance of Seongnam Municipal Medical Center during the COVID-19 situation?" He then insisted, "We need to rebuild Jinju Medical Center."

He also mentioned the suspension of free school meal support during Hong’s tenure as governor of Gyeongnam in 2015. Lee said, "At that time, I tried to save the budget and promised to implement three major free welfare programs in Seongnam, but the government blocked it. Meanwhile, Gyeongnam stopped the free school meals they had been providing," adding, "This comparison significantly increased my political weight."

Lee also recalled Yoo Seung-min, a former lawmaker who, like Hong, ran as a presidential candidate in the People Power Party primary.

He said, "When I proposed that the state take full responsibility for child-rearing, childcare, and nursing and create jobs within that framework, they said, 'Are you trying to create social public jobs to hand out benefits?' so I presented evidence," and added, "The plan to create one million social public jobs was originally conceived by former lawmaker Yoo."

This appeared to show flexibility by accepting policies from an opposing party’s candidate, appealing to the conservative-leaning public sentiment in the PK region.

Furthermore, Lee said, "There is no copyright on policies, but shouldn’t the original author be credited?" and added, "However, Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party’s presidential candidate, disappointingly did not credit the original author." He continued, "I was the first to announce giving a sergeant’s salary of 2 million won, but later he quoted that and announced it without crediting me as the author," and concluded, "I’m not upset, but it’s a pity."

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