Park Beom-gye "I Do Not Understand Lee Jae-myung Clashing with Joseyeon"

"This Governor's Claim Could Easily Lead to Political Strife"

Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is questioning at the full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgi Kim] Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung clashed head-on with the Korea Institute of Public Finance (KIPF), a government-funded research institute under the Prime Minister's Office, over the effectiveness of local currency. On the 21st, Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized, "I find it somewhat difficult to fully understand why he is doing that."

In an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the same day, Representative Park said, "Regarding the evaluation of KIPF, including expressions like 'eolbbajin' (foolish) or 'deep-rooted evils,' and other such terms, he is the governor of Gyeonggi Province, isn't he?"

He added, "Then this should be handled as a policy debate, but it could easily turn into a political dispute, and in fact, the People Power Party is politicizing it. That could be quite a burden for Governor Lee, who is currently in office."

He continued, "(Local currency) is ultimately not given to large corporations or distribution groups in the region, but mainly to small business owners and self-employed people. It functions as a fiscal tool to correct a kind of distribution distortion. If the central government's actions are considered right and local governments' actions wrong from that perspective, I find it hard to agree."

Earlier, on the 18th, Governor Lee posted on his Facebook regarding KIPF, which advocated the 'local currency futility theory,' saying, "If a government-funded research institute defends the interests of a specific group and intervenes in politics, it is neither a scholar nor research to be protected but a deep-rooted evil to be eradicated."

KIPF claimed in its report that "the issuance of local currency is economically ineffective, and local government heads are wasting budgets for political purposes." In response, Governor Lee expressed his opinion, directly refuting KIPF's research, stating, "Local currency has two aspects: promoting consumption in one's own region rather than other regions, and supporting the increase of sales for small and medium-sized merchants to protect local small business owners from distribution giants such as department stores and large marts."