"If Understanding Increases, Misunderstandings Disappear" Lee Jae-myung vs Yoon Hee-sook, Yoo Seung-min, and Netizens... Basic Income Debate

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung visited the annex of Daegu City Hall on the 4th to attend a business agreement ceremony for the Digital Innovation ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Convergence New Industry. He is speaking at the agreement ceremony.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] The basic income advocated by Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, is being criticized not only by opposition parties but also by some netizens. Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out a lack of sincerity, and former party member Yoo Seung-min criticized him for attacking the state to push his own agenda. Additionally, netizens condemned Governor Lee's claims as having weak grounds. Lee immediately responded with comments to refute such criticisms from netizens.

On the 5th, Lee posted on his Facebook, stating, "Basic income, an economic policy based on welfare, is possible and necessary in welfare underdeveloped countries," and argued for the necessity of basic income by saying, "Although South Korea is generally an advanced country, it cannot escape being a welfare underdeveloped country in terms of the scale and quality of welfare."

In response, former People Power Party member Yoo Seung-min criticized on Facebook the same day, saying, "Is South Korea, which spends 200 trillion won on welfare budgets, a welfare underdeveloped country?" and added, "If you honestly admit that there was a mistake because you posted something written by someone else on Facebook, that would be enough."

Yoon Hee-sook, from the same party, also pointed out, "Governor Lee, what kind of world are you hoping for? It’s pitiful that you keep making inconsistent statements without sincerity."

Governor Lee also engaged in a comment dispute with netizens. When a netizen criticized, "Governor Lee lacks depth in content, is impulsive, and adept at improvisation, so his steps get tangled by himself," Lee responded, "Such misunderstandings disappear when there is a high level of understanding."

From the left, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook posted on Facebook on the 5th. Photo by Governor Lee and Lawmaker Yoon's Facebook capture.

This conflict was triggered earlier on the 4th when Governor Lee posted on Facebook, "Both Professor Banerjee, who says basic income is necessary, and former member Yoo, who calls it fraudulent populism, are economists, so whose tune should I follow?" He criticized former member Yoo’s fair income theory by referring to the book by Professor Banerjee, a Nobel laureate in economics.

In response, the People Power Party rebutted that the author’s claims were distorted. On the same day, Yoon pointed out on Facebook, "Have you read the book? Stop interpreting things to suit your own interests," and added, "Professor Banerjee holds a position completely opposite to Governor Lee regarding basic income in advanced countries."

Former member Yoo also responded, "It is regrettable to see Governor Lee trying to criticize me by distorting even the words of Nobel laureates in economics," and said, "Making up words that the other party never said and blaming them is a behavior only liars engage in."