Min Hyung-bae, Democratic Party of Korea candidate for the inaugural Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special mayor, said, "If Starbucks headquarters is a corporations that considers humanity's universal conscience and values, it should consider a plan to revoke Shinsegae's business rights to Starbucks Korea."
On the 20th, 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 pro-democracy movement, and stated accordingly.
Min said, "I was shocked to think Starbucks Korea, and even Chung Yong-jin, the chairman of Shinsegae, might really be tainted by the far-right Ilbe culture," adding, "I wonder how something like this could happen and what the business structure is. If they deliberately used the expressions 'tank' and 'thunk on the desk,' that is a direct challenge to democracy and a denial of our history." Min continued, "Didn't we even enact 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 behavior."
The following is a Q&A with candidate Kim.
─You are running for the inaugural Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special mayor. 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 Seoul-centric unipolar system and the trend of regional extinction. Corporations and jobs are concentrating in the capital area. We must bundle the resources and capabilities of the two regions into one. Daily life zones are already consolidated between Jeonnam and Gwangju, but because policies are designed separately, duplication and inefficiency arise. Competition and conflict between regions also repeat. Administrative integration is about changing this outdated structure."
─How would the integrated special city differ from the existing setup?
"We will secure a larger pool of resources together. Instead of divvying up projects, we will establish a joint 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, an energy industry cluster and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology were created as future asset. After integration, people, money, and infrastructure will flock in. A second transfer of public institutions will create good jobs, advanced-industry corporations will enter, and as the wide-area transportation network expands, Jeonnam and Gwangju will be more densely consolidated into a single living zone."
─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 earmarked tax (special) or special grant method is realistic in that the central government supports a certain amount of resources to the integrated local government. In particular, regions with weak tax bases can receive stable support, and funds can be quickly injected into organizing the initial administrative system, building infrastructure, and creating an industrial base. The issue is whether it is stipulated by law. If the aggregates, payment period, and formula are not clearly stated in a special law, they could be swayed by political variables every year during budget negotiations."
─Where do you plan to use the integration incentives?
"We will use them as seed money to launch a grand industrial transformation of Jeonnam-Gwangju. Using 20 trillion won as priming water, the key is to generate an investment effect of more than 300 trillion won. The allocation standard is '8:1:1.' We will inject 80% of the total resources (16 trillion won) into corporations investment and ultra-advanced industry development, 10% (2 trillion won) into talent cultivation, and the remaining 10% (2 trillion won) into building a social safety net."
─There are differences of opinion within the region over the main government complex location and the establishment of a national medical school.
"The main government complex issue should be handled according to the law. The special law stipulates balanced use of the eastern, Muan, and Gwangju government complexes. We will rotate among the three and work. Rather than citizens coming to find the mayor, the mayor will go to the citizens in the field. More important than the building's location are authority and budget allocation.
We will focus on the essence of establishing a national medical school: resolving 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 way between the eastern and western regions to build a cooperative structure in which all of Jeonnam co-prospers without marginalizing any specific area."
─The previous day you proposed jointly pledging to build a 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. Once this project is complete, the existing Honam high-speed line and the conventional rail from Iksan to Jochiwon will be consolidated. However, to increase speed, the conventional line must be upgraded to high-speed rail. That is the task."
☞Who is Min Hyung-bae
A politician from Haenam, Jeollanam-do. He attended Haenam Masan Elementary School, Haenam Middle School, and Mokpo High School, and graduated from the sociology department at Chonnam National University. He worked as a reporter at the Jeonnam Ilbo, and later served as an administrator and secretary in the presidential office during the Participatory Government. In the 5th local elections in 2010, he was elected head of Gwangsan District in Gwangju and was re-elected. Under the Moon Jae-in administration, he served as secretary for autonomy and development and as social policy secretary at the presidential office, and later served as a lawmaker in the 21st and 22nd National Assembly.