April 27 Democratic Party Joint Speech for Seoul Metropolitan Area, Gangwon, and Jeju
Kim Kyungsoo: "Top Pledge is Five Regional Mega Cities"
Democratic Primary Compared to Ruling Party... "A Dignified Contest"
At the joint speech event for the Seoul metropolitan area, Gangwon, and Jeju regions, held at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province on the afternoon of April 27, Kim stated, "My number one pledge is the establishment of 'five regional mega city autonomous governments,'" adding, "We must completely change South Korea's growth model and entirely redesign our national territory."
Kim pointed out, "The Seoul metropolitan area, which has been South Korea's only growth axis, is losing competitiveness day by day due to concentration and overcrowding," and rhetorically asked, "Isn't it time we let both Seoul and the metropolitan area finally breathe?"
He explained, "The five regional mega cities are about changing the basic framework of national governance," stressing, "This cannot be achieved by leaving it solely to the central government; regions must be able to determine their own destinies."
Kim cited budget and authority as the main obstacles to realizing mega cities. He said, "Each regional mega city must be guaranteed an annual discretionary budget of at least 30 trillion won," and noted, "Both candidates here today?Lee Jaemyung, former Democratic Party leader, and Kim Dongyeon, governor of Gyeonggi Province?have agreed on this path."
He also pledged to introduce a national basic livelihood guarantee system. Kim said, "No one should be forced to prove their poverty just to become a basic livelihood recipient," and added, "We must ensure that the more people work, the more income they are guaranteed."
He continued, "At the very least, no family in South Korea should be driven to make extreme choices due to poverty," and questioned, "How much longer must we witness our elderly, who led our nation's industrialization, collecting waste paper on the streets?"
Kim described the Democratic Party's primary as a "dignified contest," in contrast to the People Power Party's. He said, "Somewhere in South Korea, there are primaries filled with negativity and personal attacks. We must be different from them."
He added, "In this primary, we have seen that possibility," urging, "Party members, who are the true owners of the Democratic Party, please show that we are different from them."
He further asserted, "For an overwhelming victory in the presidential election and for the success of the fourth democratic administration, we must govern together with democratic forces," and called, "Let us ensure that a Democratic Party president and the party's 170-seat supermajority are not sources of fear, but of hope and expectation."
Kim stressed that all presidential contenders are "one team," and emphasized, "Let us achieve a decisive change of government, united around the Democratic Party's presidential candidate who will be chosen today."
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