Kim Moon-soo: "Is There Any Country in the World This Lacking in Conscience?"

"This is truly a country without conscience. With so many military facilities and the DMZ, shouldn't we treat people who sacrificed for the nation, rather than only accommodating those staging protests?"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo made these remarks on the 19th at a field provincial council meeting held in Pocheon, addressing road issues—the most pressing concern in northern Gyeonggi Province.

He stated, "Pocheon has the Seungjin Training Ground and Yeongpyeong Training Ground, with combined military firing ranges exceeding 33 million square meters." He pointed out, "When cannons are fired there, village windows break, yet there is no compensation. We don't even pay a single won in noise taxes."

He continued, "If residents suffer this much on the front lines, the government should at least build roads for them, but that's not happening either." He added, "Didn't we give Jeju Island everything they asked for regarding the Gangjeong Naval Base? Can there be a country in the world more lacking in conscience than this?"

In particular, he stated, "For a region sacrificing for national defense and security, the road infrastructure ranks 17th out of 17—dead last nationwide. No wonder tragedies like the one that befell Hyo-sun and Mi-sun occurred. Wasn't it because of the narrow roads? We should be holding road protests, not anti-American protests."

He added, "When I go to provincial areas, highways are built more than necessary. Politicians keep pressuring for development, so roads continue to be built in regions with little traffic. Yet Northern Gyeonggi Province, with 3.5 million people, has extremely poor road infrastructure." He criticized, "It is the government's responsibility to help people who sacrificed honestly for the nation, but the basics aren't even in place."