Lee Jae-myung: "World Travel Experience Idea Came from Brainstorming, Not Policy Proposal"

[Suwon Ilbo=Park Noh-hun Reporter] Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung has come forward to actively clarify the so-called "10 million won support for world travel" pledge reported by some media outlets.

Governor Lee posted an article titled "Regret over Distortion of Remarks..." on his social media on the 6th.

In the post, the governor stated, "The world travel experience was not a pledge announcement or policy proposal, but an idea proposed at the level of brainstorming regarding youth support policies for those who did not pursue higher education, to discuss the diversity of support methods," and added "The core is that people should not be discriminated based on form and appearance, and should receive equal support regardless of whether they attend university or not, and support methods should not be uniform but diverse, taking into account individual characteristics."

He continued, "However, some conservative media outlets and the People Power Party are distorting this as a 'pledge to support 10 million won for world travel' or criticizing it as 'populism' or 'benchmarking Heo Kyung-young.' If ideas from brainstorming are distorted in this way, how can discussion be possible?" expressing strong regret.

The governor stated, "I hope we can think together about what we should do and what kind of society we should build for the youth generation facing the greatest difficulties in history," and attached the full text of the remarks that had become a hot topic.

The following is the full text of Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's social media post.

<Regret over Distortion of Remarks...Full text attached>
"My concern regarding youth issues has always been why we do not evaluate based on substance but discriminate based on form and appearance."
"Since wage discrimination is practiced based on formal education, people attend universities they need not attend, resulting in loss of national capacity, increased financial burden, and in some ways, a waste of personal life, which is regrettable."
"If we provide youth who do not pursue higher education with support commensurate to university attendees, they can develop their own capabilities and gain good life experiences."
"Per capita direct and indirect financial support for university students amounts to tens of millions of won, so it would be fair to provide at least minimum support to youth who do not pursue higher education."
"Methods of capability development vary by individual. For example, if there are young people who want to travel the world, we cannot say that world experience is inferior to university education, so could we not consider supporting world travel experience instead of university as one method of capability development?"
These were remarks made at the "Business Agreement Consultation for Establishing High School Graduate Employment Support" on the 4th. The world travel experience was not a pledge announcement or policy proposal, but an idea proposed at the level of brainstorming regarding youth support policies for those who did not pursue higher education, to discuss the diversity of support methods.
The core was that people should not be discriminated based on form and appearance, and should receive equal support regardless of whether they attend university or not, and support methods should not be uniform but diverse, taking into account individual characteristics.
However, some conservative media outlets and the People Power Party are distorting this as a "pledge to support 10 million won for world travel" or criticizing it as "populism" or "benchmarking Heo Kyung-young." If ideas from brainstorming are distorted in this way, how can discussion be possible? When words are constrained by reductive framing, no improvement is possible.
Today's youth are the first generation with fewer opportunities and future prospects than their predecessors. We do not have the luxury to discriminate based on educational background or origin. What those in desperate situations need is a minimum safety net for all to support their basic lives.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide support for capability development of youth who do not pursue higher education at a level commensurate with support for university students. With such support, the methods should be diverse and creative, whether they are buying books, attending cram schools, or gaining experience through travel.
Germany's strong economy centered on specialized enterprises is backed by respect for skilled labor and adequate compensation. In Europe and the United States, such as the UK, gap years after high school graduation are used for remote area experiences, travel, volunteering, and career exploration to find aptitudes, careers, and develop capabilities.
I hope we can think together about what we should do and what kind of society we should build for the youth generation facing the greatest difficulties in history.
I express regret over politically motivated attacks that distort details to manipulate the substance. Please judge for yourselves as I attach the full text of the remarks.

- Full text of remarks from the discussion on youth support agreement without pursuing higher education -
Education Superintendent Lee Jae-jung, Director Lee Heon-soo of the Central Regional Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, it is good to see you.
My long-standing concern regarding youth issues has been why we do not evaluate based on substance but discriminate based on form and appearance.
In fact, productivity and capability are truly important in our field, but since wage discrimination is practiced based on formal education, people attend universities they need not attend, and this results in loss of national capacity, increased financial burden, and in some ways, a waste of personal life, which I find truly regrettable.
Germany boasts a solid economy centered on specialized enterprises, and the core of this seems to be respect for skilled labor and adequate compensation.
In our country, wage gaps for the same work based on educational background are so large that I believe this may be a root cause of university hierarchy problems, entrance examination problems, or distorted educational environments in elementary, middle, and high schools.
Another concern I have is that when people attend university, we provide scholarships and all sorts of support, but why do we not provide support for those who do not attend university? They are the same citizens and taxpayers of this country, yet I do not understand why we pressure people to attend university.
University is meant to be attended for academic research or to acquire specialized knowledge, but nowadays, if people do not attend university, they are not treated properly, so there are those who attend university against their will out of necessity.
Therefore, I think if we provide youth who do not pursue higher education with something commensurate to university support—which would be considerable—we could discover their capabilities and allow them to gain good life experiences. I wonder if we could not do better this way.
Regarding four years of university—I did attend university myself, but I actually remember rarely going to school during my university years. I am not sure which would be more helpful for a person's life: four years of university or four years of world travel. Which would be better for developing that person's capabilities? I am not sure.
From my perspective, I think the experience of each person doing what they want would be a greater form of education. I think it would be much better if we supported young people who did not go to university with 10 million won each in world travel expenses instead. What do you think?
In any case, it seems that the proportion of students who graduate high school and enter employment is continuously declining. In the past, there was a time when vocational high schools had much better reputation than general high schools, and one did not receive recognition without graduating from a commercial high school, but it seems to have completely reversed now. When I was in Seongnam, I gave much thought to whether we could transform vocational high schools not in the traditional manner but into programmer training programs for IT companies in Seongnam, but it actually did not work out well. The educational system was difficult to change easily, and that was regrettable.
Through today's agreement, I not only want to create many opportunities for young people who graduate high school and enter employment, but I also believe that when fellow friends who spent four years in university graduate and rejoin the workplace, if the compensation for four years of technical skills and effort in the workplace is not significantly different from that of someone who spent four years in university, it would be much better. If we can simply give the assurance that such differences would be minimal, who would choose the detour?