Min Hyeong-bae, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for special mayor of the Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated city, said, "If Starbucks headquarters is a corporations that considers the universal conscience and values of humanity, it should consider a plan to revoke Shinsegae's business rights to Starbucks Korea."
On May 20, in an interview with ChosunBiz at his campaign office on Sangmu-daero in Gwangju, Min said he felt "beyond disappointed, utterly devastated" that Starbucks Korea held a "tank tumbler event" on May 18, the anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement, and stated accordingly.
Min said, "I was shocked to think that not only Starbucks Korea but even Shinsegae Chairman Chung Yong-jin may really be contaminated by the far-right Ilbe culture," adding, "I wonder how such a thing could happen and what the business structure is. If they deliberately used the expressions 'tank' and 'tak on the desk,' it is a direct challenge to democracy and a denial of our history." He continued, "Didn't we even pass a law banning words and actions that mock or hate May 18?" and added, "This incident showed a 'we don't care about that' kind of depraved attitude."
The following is a Q&A with Min.
─Running for the inaugural special mayor of the Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated city. Why is administrative integration important?
"Administrative integration is not a matter of choice. It is an opportunity for survival and a leap forward. If Jeonnam and Gwangju compete separately, it will be hard to overcome the capital-area-centered system and the trend of regional extinction. Corporations and jobs are concentrating in the capital area. We must bind the resources and capabilities of the two regions into one. Daily life spheres are already connected between Jeonnam and Gwangju, but because policies are designed separately, duplication and inefficiency arise. Competition and conflict between regions are repeated. Administrative integration is about changing this old structure."
─How would the integrated special city differ from the current system?
"Together, we will secure larger resources. Instead of dividing up projects, we will establish a shared growth strategy. We also have a success story. The Naju Gwangju-Jeonnam joint innovation city was possible because Gwangju and Jeonnam cooperated rather than competed. We attracted KEPCO to Naju, and as a result, a future asset called the energy industry cluster and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology was created. After integration, people, money and infrastructure will pour in. With the second transfer of public institutions, good jobs will be created; with advanced-industry corporations moving in and metropolitan transport networks expanding, Jeonnam and Gwangju will be connected more densely as a single living sphere."
─How should the 20 trillion won in integration incentives be provided?
"More important than the aggregates is how stably the resources are guaranteed and how autonomously the integrated special city can use them. The method of an earmarked tax (special) or special grants is realistic in that the central government supports the integrated local government with certain resources. In particular, regions with a weak tax base can also receive stable support, and there is the advantage of being able to deploy funds quickly in the early integration stage for reorganizing the administrative system, building infrastructure and creating an industrial base. The issue is whether it is stipulated by law. If the total amount, payment period and formula are not clearly stated in the special law, they can be swayed by political variables each year during the budget consultations."
─Where do you plan to use the integration incentives?
"We will use them as seed money to launch a major industrial transformation in Jeonnam-Gwangju. Using 20 trillion won as priming water, the key is to generate investment effects of more than 300 trillion won. The allocation standard is '8:1:1.' We will put 80% (16 trillion won) of the total resources into corporate investment and fostering ultra-advanced industries, 10% (2 trillion won) into cultivating talent, and the remaining 10% (2 trillion won) into building a social safety net."
─There are differences of opinion in the region over the location of the main government complex and the establishment of a national medical school.
"The main government complex issue should be handled according to the law. The special law stipulates that the Dongbu, Muan and Gwangju government complexes be used in a balanced way. We will rotate among the three and work. Instead of citizens coming to find the mayor, the mayor will go to citizen sites to work. More important than the building's location are authority and budget allocation.
We will focus on the essence of establishing a national medical school, which is to resolve Jeonnam's medical gap. We will pursue an "integrated distributed model" jointly operated by Suncheon National University and Mokpo National University. We will allocate enrollment quotas and affiliated hospitals in a balanced manner between the eastern and western regions to create a cooperative structure in which all of Jeonnam can prosper together without any particular area being left out."
─The previous day, you proposed jointly pledging to build the Gangwon–Honam axis rail network.
"We will build a rail network from Mokpo to Iksan, from Iksan to Cheongju, Chungju and then to Gangwon. We will complete it by 2031 to create a rail network that allows direct travel from Mokpo to Gangwon Province in four hours."
─Won't there be debate over the project's feasibility?
"The Chungbuk Line high-speed project has already been selected as exempt from the preliminary feasibility study, and a rail network is being built from Jochiwon to Cheongju and Jecheon. When this project is completed, the existing Honam high-speed line and the conventional railway from Iksan to Jochiwon are consolidated. However, to increase speed, the conventional railway must be upgraded to high-speed rail. That is the task."
☞ Who is Min Hyeong-bae
A politician from Haenam, Jeollanam-do. He attended Haenam Masan Elementary School, Haenam Middle School and Mokpo High School, and graduated from the Department of Sociology at Chonnam National University. He worked as a reporter at the Jeonnam Ilbo, then served as an administrator and secretary in the Presidential Secretariat at the Blue House during the Participatory Government. In the fifth local elections in 2010, he was elected head of Gwangsan District in Gwangju and won reelection. Under the Moon Jae-in administration, he served as Blue House secretary for autonomous development and secretary for social affairs policy, and later served as a lawmaker in the 21st and 22nd National Assemblies.