Nam Kyung-pil and Kim Jin-pyo Clash Again Over Childcare Pledges

6·4지방선거 Gyeonggi Province gubernatorial candidates Nam Kyung-pil of the Saenuri Party and Kim Jin-pyo of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy clashed again on the 26th over Kim's pledge to make childcare teachers into civil service educators.

The two candidates appeared on YTN's direct debate program that morning and engaged in unrestricted free debate on three topics: ▲the Sewol ferry disaster and safety measures ▲jobs and welfare ▲childcare policy, continuing their sharp confrontation.

Nam Kyung-pil attacked Kim, saying, "Candidate Kim, who said on the 18th that he would convert all childcare teachers into civil servants, changed his position at a childcare teacher forum on the 24th to guarantee semi-civil service level salaries when facing criticism over funding. The public is confused."

He further pressed Kim, stating, "Candidate Kim said he would implement the childcare teacher pledge in Seoul and Incheon, but the candidates for Seoul mayor and Incheon mayor have not stated any position. This is dangerous populism without party approval and a rushed pledge. When you were deputy prime minister for education and deputy prime minister for economy, you didn't do this. Is promoting something outside a governor's authority not a bureaucrat's mindset? It raises doubts about whether your tenure as deputy prime minister for economy was appropriate. Especially the pension system will become a ticking time bomb. National crisis could come." He repeatedly urged Kim to withdraw the pledge.

In response, Kim Jin-pyo countered, "I have argued from the beginning to make childcare teachers into civil service educators at the level of private school teachers. We have agreed with the party and will announce it as official policy soon."

Kim continued, "Candidate Nam, who said a month ago that he would raise childcare teachers' treatment to the level of civil service educators, is now distorting the additional budget required for my pledge and criticizing it as populism. The childcare teacher civil service pledge is a policy for mothers' happiness and requires only 2.7 trillion won in additional funding."

He added, "I have been thinking about this since my time as deputy prime minister for education and have partially implemented it, including providing 100,000 won monthly to childcare teachers at that time. I am frustrated why this pledge is being attacked negatively."

The two candidates also engaged in uncompromising debate over Gyeonggi Province's fiscal crisis and job creation policies.

When Nam said, "I will create 700,000 jobs during my term. That's how we can achieve a 70% employment rate," Kim attacked, saying, "When I checked the content that Candidate Nam claimed was incorrect statistics in the previous TV debate, all of it turned out to be false."

Kim then said, "If you think an economic governor who creates many good jobs is important, support me. If you think Saenuri Party Governor Kim Moon-soo may have failed at economics but succeeded in image and other aspects, support Candidate Nam." He criticized both Governor Kim and Nam together.

In response, Nam said, "I will be a governor who surpasses Governor Kim Moon-soo, a rising talent. Candidate Kim exaggerates small Bank of Korea statistics and says Gyeonggi Province's economy and finances are in collapse, but that's not true. The voters will judge."

In their fierce exchanges, the two candidates highlighted pledges they wanted to praise each other for. Nam cited Kim's pledge to "make Ansan a special city of hope," while Kim cited Nam's pledge to "control situations with massive information during disasters."