Suwon Citizens Angry About Disaster Relief Income "Remove the Mayor, Don't Vote for the Democratic Party in the General Election"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] 1.35 million Suwon citizens are outraged.

Among Gyeonggi Province's 'Big 4' cities, Suwon is the only one that has not confirmed the payment of disaster basic income. Seongnam City has decided to give 100,000 KRW in gift certificates to all 940,000 citizens and started accepting applications from the 1st.

Yongin City also made a sudden decision at the end of last month to give 100,000 KRW to all citizens. Goyang City plans to provide disaster basic income of 100,000 to 120,000 KRW per person to 850,000 people in the bottom 80% income bracket. Most other cities in the province have also decided to provide support funds either to all citizens or to households meeting certain criteria.

However, Suwon City, which has the largest population in the province and serves as the provincial capital, has not announced whether it will pay the disaster basic income as of the 1st.

Given this situation, citizens are expressing strong dissatisfaction online. Opinions range from criticism that a mayor serving a third term should not have been elected to suggestions not to vote for the Democratic Party of Korea in the upcoming April 15 general election.

User ID 'aser****' expressed strong dissatisfaction, saying, "Having served three terms, maybe he’s gotten arrogant since he doesn’t have to worry about reappointment anymore," and added, "Looking at the city administration, I wish they would at least follow half of what Yongin City is doing."

User ID 'tenm****' said, "I thought Suwon was the number one city in Gyeonggi Province, but these days, Suwon is a disaster area with many confirmed cases every day," and criticized, "As a Suwon citizen who has paid local taxes for decades and had some pride, I am very disappointed with Suwon’s city administration these days."

User ID 'man5****' stated, "Stagnant water gets rotten; even the third-term Democratic Party has no power," and said, "I will vote for the opposition party in this general election." Currently, all four National Assembly members from Suwon, including Mayor Yeom Tae-young, are from the Democratic Party of Korea.

User ID 'lelo****' vented, "Suwon only talks about becoming a special city, but I don’t understand what’s special about it when they don’t even pay disaster income."

In particular, some comments express hardship in daily life, which is heartbreaking.

User ID 'sky0****' wrote, "Other cities provide a lot of support, but Suwon, with its large population and presumably high tax revenue, please provide some support," and added, "I work as a postpartum care worker, but all my appointments have been canceled due to COVID-19, and I have no place to work, so I’m not earning any money. Please provide some support. It’s hard to make a living."