Lee Jae-myung's side Kim Young-jin: "'100% Support for Gyeonggi-do Residents' Disaster Relief Fund' Not Confirmed... It Is a Matter to Be Decided by Local Autonomy"

Kim Young-jin, a member of the Democratic Party and the 'Open Camp' Situation Room Chief for Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, is reporting on the review of a bill at the full meeting of the Steering Committee held on the 22nd at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Kim Young-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and the head of the situation room at Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province's presidential campaign 'Open Camp,' dismissed on the 4th the policy of "100% support for disaster relief funds for Gyeonggi residents" mentioned by Governor Lee, saying, "It is not confirmed at this time."

Kim appeared on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strongest Current Affairs' that morning and said, "The case of 100% payment of disaster relief funds to Gyeonggi residents was first proposed not by Governor Lee but by the mayor of Paju, Gyeonggi Province," drawing a line under Governor Lee's "100% support for disaster relief funds for Gyeonggi residents." He added, "Since it is difficult to select the bottom 88% of income earners, if Gyeonggi Province provides sufficient disaster relief funds, basic local governments will also share the burden and provide disaster relief funds to the top 12% income residents."

Kim explained, "The intention was that this would increase policy acceptability and remove administrative difficulties." He continued, "After listening to the opinions of 31 mayors and county heads and forming a consensus, Gyeonggi Province said it could provide additional financial support."

Regarding concerns that only Gyeonggi Province receiving 100% disaster relief funds could cause fairness issues, he said, "There are places with worse and better financial situations than Gyeonggi Province," adding, "Governor Lee will gather the thoughts of the 16 cities and provinces, build consensus, and agree on expanding the 88% to 100% after review."

He continued, "Each local government has its characteristics," and said, "Policies should be decided according to these characteristics. It is unreasonable to apply the same policy uniformly in a situation where local autonomy is expanding."

Meanwhile, on the controversy over Governor Lee's past drunk driving, Kim said, "Basically, Governor Lee has acknowledged responsibility related to drunk driving and submitted a criminal record certificate when registering as a preliminary candidate," adding, "Other drunk driving allegations raised by actress Kim Bu-seon are not true."