President Lee Jae-myung visited Gangwon Province on the 12th and said, "The government will give special consideration so that living in Gangwon Province does not feel unfair and so that people do not think living in a border area is a malignant fate." Because residents in regions along the armistice line suffer damage from various security regulations amid inter-Korean confrontation, the government will provide compensation accordingly.
On this day, at the Gangwon Creative Development Center in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, Lee held his fourth town hall meeting since taking office and said, "I have become the most powerful person in the Republic of Korea, so now I must do it," adding, "For a community to become a world where we live well together, we need to carve out a portion of the benefits to fill in for regions that make special sacrifices." He went on, "Special compensation for special sacrifice is a principle I set when I began political and social activism."
He also mentioned several times the local harm caused by the concentration in the capital area. Lee said, "Gangwon Province has many out-migrants, and as local growth and development have relatively stagnated, many people have left for the capital area—so-called victims of capital-area concentration—just like other regions." He also said, "One of the various key tasks for the Republic of Korea is to overcome the unipolar system of the capital area," adding, "Everything is flocking to the Seoul capital area, so Seoul has become bursting at the seams. On one side the problem is having too much, on the other side the problem is having too little."
He also said that residents' political choices, such as favoring engagement with North Korea, would translate into actual benefits. After hearing citizens' views on easing regulations in border regions, Lee said, "(Political choices) actually influence policy decisions," and answered, "If peace takes root, the northern part of Gangwon and the northern area of Gyeonggi are the regions that benefit the most, yet oddly there is a tendency to make hostile political choices."
Lee said, "There are cases where people criticize, asking why we pursue engagement and peace policies toward North Korea when their expressions are not exactly kind," adding, "Did we not pursue policies that were too extreme and hostile in the past period? It is a situation where neither side can feel good, so would it be easy for attitudes to suddenly shift just because political power has changed in the South?"
He was asking for support for the new government's peace policy toward North Korea. Lee said, "The easiest way to do politics is to do it antagonistically. If you curse and go hard, everyone applauds, but in reality the body breaks down," adding, "Building a peace regime and expanding inter-Korean exchange and cooperation are necessary for the entire Republic of Korea, but the most direct benefits are seen in the border regions."