Lee Jae-myung: "Basic Income, Basic Housing, and Basic Finance Point Toward Fairness"

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung asserted that basic income, basic housing, and basic finance are directed toward fairness.

Governor Lee posted an article titled "Youth seek 'fairness,' not 'favoritism'" via SNS on the 29th.

In the post, the governor interpreted young people's sentiments following the recent by-elections and organized past and current situations, stating "The worst thing is to evade and neglect conflicts," adding "If we confront them, we can resolve the issues."

He continued, "The fundamental solution is to recreate the momentum for sustainable growth," and stressed "We must protect the minimum means of living—'basic economic rights'—and provide various choices so that not only youth but all generations can live dignified lives. The basic income, basic housing, and basic finance I have consistently mentioned are all directed in that direction."

The governor also stated, "Now is the time to break free from the harmful habit of competing by generation or gender over who suffers more, and to embark on a journey of solving common problems together," concluding "While intense antagonism and sharp words directed at each other may seem overwhelming for now, considering the achievements our society has made thus far, I believe we have sufficient capacity to resolve this conflict as well."

Below is the full text of Governor Lee Jae-myung's SNS post.

<Youth seek 'fairness,' not 'favoritism'>
Following the by-elections, there is a cacophony of interpretations regarding young people's sentiments. Before the election, I stated that "the younger generation rejects the binary framework of traditional progressivism and conservatism," but I still question whether our politics is viewing the younger generation as they truly are.
I lived through a time of desperate poverty but abundant opportunities. Although severe military dictatorship continued and institutional democracy was underdeveloped, resulting in far more unfairness than today, everyone was unhesitant in dreaming of a better tomorrow than today. The saying "suffering in youth is worth seeking" was likely possible for that reason.
The world young people live in today is vastly different. The formula of working hard, taking out loans to buy a house, and getting married has long been broken. The growth plate of society is not what it used to be, so choices have diminished, and "hereditary capitalism" resembling a caste system, where one's future is determined by parents' wealth, has intensified. Since wages earned through labor cannot keep pace with skyrocketing housing prices, it is only natural that young people are turning to stocks and Bitcoin.
With limited total opportunities and intensified competition, anger over unfairness is inevitably deepening. Generational conflict and gender conflict are intertwined with these temporal environmental conditions.
Gender conflict is a real conflict. For several years now, it has been cited in surveys as the greatest social conflict chosen by those in their 20s and 30s, and our society should first reflect on the fact that we have not acknowledged this until now. If both young women and young men are voicing complaints about gender-discriminatory policies, we should lay them bare, discuss them, and derive fair policies that can reach consensus. The worst approach is to evade and neglect conflict.
Attempts to win the hearts of young men through merely a few military-related policies appear unlikely to succeed. A policy of simply giving a rice cake to a crying child will be rejected by everyone. The younger generation seeks "fairness," not "favoritism." There are also many policy agendas that both genders commonly support: soldier minimum wage, enhanced safety from all forms of violence, eliminating career interruptions and expanding parental leave for both men and women, and fair hiring without discrimination or favoritism. If we confront rather than evade, we can resolve the problems.
The fundamental solution is to recreate the momentum for sustainable growth. We must protect the minimum means of living—"basic economic rights"—and provide various choices so that not only youth but all generations can live dignified lives. The basic income, basic housing, and basic finance I have consistently mentioned are all directed in that direction.
Now is the time to break free from the harmful habit of competing by generation or gender over who suffers more, and to embark on a journey of solving common problems together. While intense antagonism and sharp words directed at each other may seem overwhelming for now, considering the achievements our society has made thus far, I believe we have sufficient capacity to resolve this conflict as well.