Governor Lee Jae-myung Refutes Criticism of Excessive PR Spending With Fact-Checking

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung has strongly refuted criticism from some quarters that Gyeonggi Province is wasting budgets through excessive PR spending.

Governor Lee posted on his Facebook on the 18th with the title, "Criticized 10 people for wasting meal costs after eating 50,000 won sushi and miso stew...This is why they are mocked as the people's burden."

In the post, the governor stated, "A ruling People Power Party member of parliament and conservative media criticize 'Lee Jae-myung spent twice as much on PR budget as Nam Kyung-yul' and 'regional currency basic income policy promotion accounts for 43%, which is excessive PR spending.'"

He continued, "To clarify the facts: First, the person who raised the PR budget from 6.4 billion won in 2016 to 10.7 billion won in 2018 was Governor Nam Kyung-yul, who compiled the 2017 budget. Lee Jae-myung increased it by a small amount to 12.6 billion won in 2020. Second, Gyeonggi Province's PR budget, which has a population of 13.7 million people (one-quarter of the total population, 1.4 times that of Seoul), is shamefully small compared to other metropolitan cities," explaining with specific figures.

Additionally, he stated, "Third, the PR budget is mainly executed for press management unrelated to provincial residents. It is commendable that Gyeonggi Province focuses on promoting basic income and regional currency policies directly linked to residents' lives," and said, "Citizens have experienced firsthand through practice how effective the 'basic income type' disaster relief funds provided through regional currency have been as an economic policy during times of crisis."

The governor said, "Even after receiving stern judgment by the candlelight of the collective intelligence of the people, they still view citizens as passive beings manipulated by manipulation, and are engrossed in defamation and incitement, which is why they are mocked not as the People Power but as the people's burden," and added, "It is fortunate that even manipulative incitement is helping to promote basic income and regional currency, and it provides an opportunity to clarify misunderstandings about PR budget spending caused by Il-be comments."