[Incheon Mayor Candidate Interview] Park Namchun "Creating Startup City, 120,000 Jobs Generated"

Park Namchun, Democratic Party Candidate

Ministry of the Interior and Safety Financial Crisis 'Caution' Local Governments
Three Consecutive Financial Evaluations Rated Excellent or Outstanding
Promises Including E-eum Economy 100 Trillion City

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Park Nam-chun, the Democratic Party candidate for mayor of Incheon, said on the 25th, "In the past four years, there was no proper administration without sound finances, so we tightened our belts and put all our efforts into fiscal normalization," adding, "Going forward, we will lift Incheon from the stigma of a 'debt-ridden city' and take a step further from being the 'best fiscal city' to becoming the 'number one fiscal city'."

In a written interview with Asia Economy on the 25th, Park introduced, "Incheon suffered the pain of being designated as a 'caution' group in fiscal crisis by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in July 2015 during the tenure of former Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok (currently the People Power Party candidate for mayor of Incheon). At that time, it narrowly avoided the 'serious' label by a margin of 0.1 percentage points and received the 'caution' rating." He added, "When I took office as mayor in 2018, the fiscal caution label was barely removed, with a level around 21%."

He stated, "Thanks to painstaking efforts, Incheon has been selected as an excellent and outstanding institution for three consecutive years in the fiscal analysis evaluation conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety targeting local governments nationwide," and revealed, "The management debt ratio decreased from 21.9% in 2017 to 13.7% in 2020, the largest reduction among the seven metropolitan cities."

Below is a Q&A with candidate Park.

- You attended the 13th anniversary memorial service for former President Roh Moo-hyun on the 23rd. What did you say to him?

▲ I told former President Roh that I will continue the world where principles and common sense prevail, and an Incheon where principles and common sense are respected. I also promised to run a good election and visit Bongha Village with the certificate of election. I am Park Nam-chun, who wants to resemble Roh to the bone, a ‘Bone-Roh’. If it were not for President Roh, I would not have entered politics. My political philosophy, such as ‘Politics that does not respond to the voice of the people has no reason to exist’ and ‘To be a good politician, work looking at the future, not the next election,’ was all inherited from President Roh.

- What policies do you want to pursue if you succeed in re-election?

▲ Since the outbreak of COVID-19, I have shared the difficulties of self-employed and small business owners for over two years. We circulated money within the region through the Incheon e-eum card and promoted consumption by providing daily recovery support funds unique to Incheon. These efforts will continue. I will devote all capabilities to restoring damages to small business owners and self-employed people and revitalizing the local economy.

- Please introduce your key pledges.

▲ I will complete Incheon as an ‘e-eum Economy 100 Trillion Won City’ where the region and citizens prosper together. First, the ‘Incheon e-eum platform’ will be upgraded to ‘e-eum platform 3.0’. While maintaining a 10% cashback, we will launch segmented cards for different groups such as youth, pregnant women, seniors, and the disabled to provide specialized benefits. In particular, by launching the e-eum business card, 350,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in Incheon will have zero card fees on B2B transactions up to 300 million won annually. Through this, we will expand the virtuous economic cycle within the region to 100 trillion won. In terms of jobs, we will create 300,000 direct jobs and build a startup city to realize the dreams of young people. We will establish global innovation startup universities and startup venture anchor facilities in the old downtown and inner port areas to create employment for more than 120,000 people and support 3 trillion won in startup funds.

- You promised to establish Incheon e-eum Bank. What are the specific plans?

▲ Currently, low-credit borrowers find it difficult to get loans, and even if they do, they have to borrow at higher interest rates. Based on the success and foundation of the Incheon e-eum card, we aim to realize community-based relational finance that provides practical help to citizens. We will offer reasonable financial services to self-employed and small business owners, support tuition for local university students at interest rates lower than scholarship foundations, and help couples married in Incheon to obtain housing in Incheon, making it a public financial platform with these functions. Based on a review by the Incheon Research Institute earlier this year, the city is currently discussing this through a task force. Since it will be built on the Incheon e-eum platform, it is expected not to take too long.

- Polls show you are trailing. What is your strategy to overcome this?

▲ Since the local elections coincide with President Yoon Seok-yeol’s inauguration, I anticipated the race would be very difficult. The gap has rapidly narrowed since Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s general election campaign committee chairman, ran in the by-election for the National Assembly in Gyeyang District, Incheon. Although the People Power Party’s slander has slowed the upward trend, I believe a golden cross will occur soon. Until the election, through campaigns and debates, I will clearly show who is a worker to develop the future of Incheon, not a political trickster. Recently, I have been touring the region every evening with Chairman Lee, greeting citizens and taking photos, sometimes taking over an hour to cover 300 meters. Over the past four years, as mayor of Incheon and governor of Gyeonggi Province, Chairman Lee and I have worked together on COVID-19 prevention and the metropolitan landfill site. We will create synergy in this election to protect Incheon and the metropolitan area.