Lee Jae-myung Proposes "COVID-19 Task Force and Party-Government Consultations at the Campaign Committee Level"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] As the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases rapidly surged to the 5,000 range, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, convened an emergency meeting on the 1st to discuss COVID-19 measures and proposed the establishment of a special committee within the election campaign committee. Along with this, he also urged the party to promptly initiate party-government consultations.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

That evening, Candidate Lee held an emergency meeting attended by Song Young-gil, the party leader, Yoon Ho-jung, the floor leader, and Park Wan-joo, the chairman of the policy committee, to discuss COVID-19 measures.

Lee said, "The number of confirmed cases is currently skyrocketing, and consequently, the issue of critically ill patients has become an immediate concern," adding, "On the ground, there is an urgent situation where concerns about facing difficulties again due to restrictions such as social distancing and fears of infection spread are intersecting."

He emphasized, "It is necessary to form a COVID-19 special committee within the campaign committee for urgent response to assess the situation and to prepare and review government and party policies."

Lee stated, "I believe the government is also adequately preparing countermeasures, but it would be good if the party could organize the voices from the public and frontline and prepare for party-government consultations," adding, "If possible, I ask that the results of the situation assessment and our opinions be coordinated with the government as soon as possible."

He said, "Although the overall economic situation has largely recovered, the damage to frontline economic sectors, especially small businesses and vulnerable economic groups, has become so severe that the difficulties and suffering are significant," emphasizing, "When the government decides on policies in the future, it must be thoroughly reviewed to ensure that this damage or suffering is not passed on to the public or specific groups but is fully compensated."

Lee added, "I hope this situation can be resolved without causing economic hardship as much as possible, but if there is a need to seek cooperation from the public, it is better to first create sufficient or even greater countermeasures," and concluded, "I hope this point will be fully considered during party-government consultations."