Lee Jae-myung: "A Leader's Incompetence Is a Sin That Destroys the Community and Cannot Be Forgiven"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is delivering a greeting during his visit to the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Busanjin-gu, Busan on the 6th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "Incompetence that fails to utilize the same opportunities as a leader is a sin and truly unforgivable."

On the morning of the 6th, during a meeting with local businesspeople at the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lee said, "Incompetence within a community destroys the community."

He added, "Simply making good use of opportunities is average; the leader's domain is to find opportunity factors within the crisis we face and create new achievements beyond overcoming the crisis."

He also emphasized, "Issues like the recently debated EU Taxonomy are indeed important, but in the global economy facing a transitional situation, we must now move toward a leading role," adding, "The key is to respect market autonomy as much as possible and rationalize regulations to match the rapid changes of the era."

This was interpreted as highlighting relative competitiveness against Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party candidate, under the strategy of a 'competent economic president.'

On the same day, Lee said, "The leader I respect most and want to emulate is Franklin Roosevelt, who created a 50-year long economic boom in the U.S. through innovative policies," and added, "In a new era where there is surplus investment money, the government's role is to enable our companies to exercise autonomy, creativity, and innovate in the market through large-scale national involvement and roles."

He also directly refuted allegations of preferential treatment in the Baekhyeon-dong development and Doosan Group favoritism raised by the opposition. Lee said, "When I was mayor of Seongnam, attracting an R&D center to idle private land or changing the use of land that was left unused for decades after Doosan gave up building a hospital, and instead securing some of it for public use, isn't that good for companies, good for us, and a happy thing for everyone?"

He criticized, "The U.S. also provides benefits such as free land or several years of corporate tax exemption to attract companies," and said, "If you attack the Seongnam mayor's corporate attraction activities by asking why benefits were given, isn't that the same as saying to kidnap companies rather than attract them?"

He continued, "What I find most regrettable in politics is this kind of thinking that asks, 'Why did you give benefits to companies? Since special benefits were given, isn't it corruption?'" and added, "It's absurd. Politics ruining the economy is a bad behavior."

Regarding regional balanced development, he said, "I have visited Busan, Gwangju, and Daegu, and overall, the structure itself seems to be collapsing," adding, "If this problem is not solved, there is no future for the country."

Lee stated, "The Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions have opportunities to transition to future advanced industries, but on the other hand, they rely on traditional manufacturing, which is a very dangerous situation," and said, "The role of the state and the president will be crucial."