Lee Jae-myung "Jeonbuk is being marginalized... Will use the opposition's balanced development strategy as a starting point"

High-Level On-Site Meeting Held in Jeonbuk
Emphasizing Regional Balanced Development and Addressing Current Issues

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, emphasized in Jeonbuk that "we should make it the starting point of the Democratic Party's balanced development strategy." This is interpreted as part of the 'Honam wooing' effort to regain public sentiment in the Honam region, a traditional stronghold of the Democratic Party.

On the 16th, Lee held a Supreme Council meeting at the Jeonbuk Provincial Government Office in Jeonju and stated, "Among local governments nationwide, the balanced development index is said to be the lowest. It is truly a regrettable situation."

He said, "Yesterday, I listened for about two hours to the words of our Jeonbuk party members and supporters at a town hall meeting," adding, "There were many agendas related to party innovation, but among them, many people felt that Jeonbuk is being neglected and treated unfairly."

He continued, "It is hard to find interest in balanced development to the extent that one might think the Yoon Seok-yeol government’s national balanced development strategy, vision, and policies are disappearing," and emphasized, "We will promptly process the Jeonbuk Special Autonomous Province Special Act and the Jeonbuk Public Medical School Establishment Act, which we promised several times in the last election, at the same speed as the recent rice price measures."

He also mentioned the Saemangeum development project in Jeonbuk, saying, "Saemangeum has been ongoing for more than 30 years, but the public opinion is that it is too delayed," and pointed out, "This is probably one of the causes that has increased the sense of neglect toward Jeonbuk." He added, "We will do our best to revise the laws and secure budgets for the opening of the Saemangeum era."

Lee emphasized Jeonbuk’s renewable energy resources, stating, "We will build an energy highway and produce renewable energy using sunlight and wind on all coastal and sea areas, and attract related industries," and also said, "We will introduce Sunlight Pension and Wind Pension systems that share a significant portion of the profits generated from renewable energy production with local residents, and I promise to do our utmost so that Jeonbuk can truly become a livable region."

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