Lee Jae-myung Rebuts '25.6 Billion KRW Promotion Expense' Excessive Spending Controversy: "This Is Why We're Mocked as the People's Power"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung is attending the retrial sentencing hearing held at the Suwon High Court in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 16th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Park Soo-young, a member of the People Power Party, criticized Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's excessive spending on publicity through National Assembly audit materials. In response, Governor Lee rebutted, saying, "They still regard the public as passive beings manipulated by fabrication and are engrossed in slander and agitation, which is why they are mocked as the 'Gukmin-ui-jim' (a derogatory term for the People Power Party)."

Earlier, Park Soo-young pointed out that during Lee's 2 years and 1 month in office, about 25.646 billion KRW was spent on publicity, calling it excessive budget execution. Park revealed that 43% of the total amount was spent on promoting 'Gyeonggi local currency' and 'basic income,' criticizing, "Is it fair, as Lee claims, to use Gyeonggi residents' taxes for personal policy promotion?"

As the controversy intensified, on the 18th, Governor Lee explained on his Facebook, "It was the previous governor Nam Kyung-pil who nearly doubled the publicity budget in 2017, and Lee Jae-myung only slightly increased it to 12.6 billion KRW in 2020."

He also stated, "The publicity budget for Gyeonggi Province, with a population of 13.7 million, is miserably lower than other metropolitan cities and provinces," adding, "The per capita budget is 1,871 KRW in Gyeonggi, 5,090 KRW in Seoul, and the average for metropolitan cities and provinces is 3,835 KRW. The ratio to the total budget is 0.1%, which is among the lowest nationwide."

He further criticized, "Basic comparisons with similar cases are fundamental in budget criticism, but they ignored comparisons with other metropolitan cities and provinces and resorted to manipulation and agitation at the level of Ilbe comments (a notorious online community) and mindless following."

Regarding the criticism that Gyeonggi allocated a large portion of the publicity budget only to basic income and local currency, he welcomed it, saying, "It is commendable that Gyeonggi focused on promoting basic income and local currency policies directly related to residents' lives."

Governor Lee emphasized, "The public knows through experience how effective the 'basic income-type' disaster relief funds paid via local currency were as an economic policy during crises," and added, "They still regard the public as passive beings manipulated by fabrication and are engrossed in slander and agitation, which is why they are mocked as the 'Gukmin-ui-jim'."

He also indirectly criticized, saying, "The era of manipulating public opinion through information distortion and agitation is over, but the People Power Party and conservative media still seem to regard the public as insignificant beings easily swayed by agitation. However, fortunately, even this manipulation and agitation help promote basic income and local currency and provide an opportunity to clarify misunderstandings about publicity expenses caused by Ilbe comments."