President Lee Jae-myung, who visited Paju, Gyeonggi, said it was truly regrettable that northern Gyeonggi, despite bearing a special sacrifice, was being singled out for exclusion, and promised focused support.
At a town hall in Paju on the 14th, Lee said, while I served a little over three years as governor of Gyeonggi Province, there were quite a few things I regretted not doing because I lacked authority, and added, northern Gyeonggi suffered damage for decades for the nation as a whole, so I will hear proposals on how to resolve this and also listen to the views of the relevant ministries.
The event was the sixth stop in the series of town hall meetings Lee is holding while touring the provinces. Held at Library Stay Jijihyang in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, the event brought together, in addition to Lee, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon, Paju Mayor Kim Gyeong-il, Minister of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) Yoon Ho-jung, Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-baek, and about 300 residents of the northern Gyeonggi area.
Lawmakers Park Ji-hye, Lee Jae-gang, Yoon Hu-duk, Park Jeong, Lee Gi-heon, Kim Young-hwan, Choi Min-hee, Kim Yong-min, and Kim Byung-joo of the Democratic Party of Korea, as well as Senior Secretary for Economic Growth Ha Jun-kyung, Senior Secretary for Social Affairs Moon Jin-young, Fiscal Planning Secretary Ryu Deok-hyun, Secretary for Autonomy Development Lee Sun-ho, and defense Secretary Kwak Tae-shin from the presidential office were also present.
Lee specifically raised the issue of handling U.S. military land returned in northern Gyeonggi. Lee said, the issue of handling returned U.S. military sites seemed to have quite a few solutions if the government paid just a little attention, and it was frustrating that things were not moving, adding, in Dongducheon, if just a small portion of the land in the returned site where annual flood damage occurs were transferred a bit earlier, dredging could reduce flood damage, but that had not been done for more than a dozen years.
Lee explained, whenever I had the chance at the time, I asked President Moon Jae-in, and once we received a single consent form, we were able to process it immediately, adding, they say the annual recurring flood damage disappeared after that.
Lee said, because it is a border area, many have indeed suffered unfairly due to various military restrictions, adding, places like Namyangju and Gapyeong saw much damage due to source water protection regulations while receiving no special benefits, so there must have been many things they felt were unfair.
Lee said, because of various military facilities, people could not properly exercise their rights, and even trying to build a single house must have been inconvenient due to all kinds of regulations, adding, northern Gyeonggi suffered damage for the nation as a whole, so including how to resolve that issue, I will listen to problems and proposals on how it can develop well.