Kim Dong-yeon: "Politics is about prosecutors, diplomacy is just photo ops, economy is chaotic... Worried about the next 4 years"

Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon expressed concern about the Yoon Seok-yeol administration for the next four years, pointing out that it is a comprehensive crisis in all aspects including politics, economy, and diplomacy. Governor Kim then criticized the chaotic situations in each sector in detail.

On the 2nd, Governor Kim appeared on KBS Radio’s Choi Kyung-young’s Strong Current Affairs interview and stated, "In the past, democracy was threatened by coups, but currently there are two major deficiencies: one is the lack of checks and balances, and the second is the lack of restraint by those in power, meaning unrestrained exercise of power," adding, "This analysis is based on the U.S., but Korea is in a similar situation."

He continued, "Looking at the current situation, the prosecution is running politics, diplomacy is focused on taking photos, and the economy is full of worries," advising, "Given this, we need to seriously reconsider the state of democracy in the Republic of Korea."

Governor Kim particularly questioned, "President Yoon Seok-yeol calls himself the number one salesperson, but why does that salesperson not listen to the shareholders?" He then lamented, "Who are the shareholders? The shareholders are the people. Why does he say what the U.S. and Japan want to hear, but not what the shareholders, the people of the Republic of Korea, want to hear?"

Furthermore, he criticized, "The performance as a salesperson was extremely poor. This time, more than 120 members of the economic delegation went, including all the leading businesspeople in Korea," and added, "Looking at the economic achievements, there were talks about future negotiations on the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) and semiconductors, and the amount of investment attracted was minimal."

He also said, "Instead, (during this visit) we gave the U.S. an enormous investment as a gift that could be used for Biden’s re-election," evaluating, "Therefore, although this visit might have been a state visit, it was one where national interests disappeared."

He added, "Some say that rather than easing tensions in inter-Korean relations, tensions are actually being heightened," emphasizing, "The strong alliance between Korea and the U.S. is not a new topic; it is just repeating what has existed and putting it into documents. Our goal is to prevent tension and war on the Korean Peninsula, and our basic principle in inter-Korean relations is peace."

Governor Kim also expressed concern about the remaining four years of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.

He said, "I am not someone who criticizes unconditionally, but looking at the president over the past year since taking office, it is really hard to find anything worthy of praise," and directly stated, "The current approval rating is stuck around 30%, and Korea is facing an economic crisis and various chaotic risk factors, but the biggest crisis is the leadership crisis of the leader."

He continued, "This is clearly reflected in the public approval ratings," adding, "The more worrying thing is that only one year has passed, and the next four years are concerning."

Regarding solutions for the Gimpo Gold Line, Governor Kim said, "Currently, the Gimpo Gold Line has two cars, and increasing to four cars was considered, but there are technical difficulties," and explained, "In the short term, we are expanding shuttle buses and city buses, and in the mid-to-long term, we are considering connecting with the Seoul subway and especially widening the road sections in Seoul."

On the issue of jeonse fraud, he explained, "Regarding the jeonse fraud issue, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s plans are lacking in many ways, so we are planning policies suited to Gyeonggi Province’s characteristics," adding, "Dongtan is a problem area, but Dongtan and Incheon are different cases, so we are preparing policies tailored to each."

Finally, regarding the 100 trillion won investment during his tenure, he expressed confidence, saying, "It has been about 10 months since I took office, and we have attracted nearly 10 trillion won in foreign investment," and added, "When I say I will definitely achieve 100 trillion won during my term, that is the minimum amount."

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