▲ President Lee Jae-myung speaks at the 2nd plenary meeting of the Presidential Committee on People's Safety and Life held at the Blue House on October 28.
President Lee Jae-myung emphasized today (November 1) that "listening to voices pointing out that there are hard-to-understand problems in some support policies for multicultural families, and seeking to correct them if problems exist, can never be an action that excludes or discriminates against multicultural families."
President Lee made the remarks on X (formerly Twitter) on this day, stating, "Even when irrationalities and systemic blind spots are found in the operation of a system, unconditionally defending them based solely on group identity or consistently adhering to mechanical victimhood could produce agitation that insists 'beans are red beans' (denying obvious facts)."
He continued, "A dogmatic attitude that prevents people from calling a problem a problem could actually undermine the original intent of healthily embracing multicultural families as equal citizens of the Republic of Korea." He added, "If partial unfairness or administrative blind spots in specific areas are neglected under the pretext of protecting minorities, that gap will become easy prey for far-right hate agitation and extreme division of public opinion."
He also wrote, "The surest breakwater to prevent the spread of extremism and safeguard a healthy public forum is not blind moral defense, but transparently and preemptively rectifying the irrational elements of the system."
He further added, "'Correction based on principles and facts' regarding existing welfare and social policies serves as a foundation for expanding the horizons of South Korea's welfare," noting, "Only when supported by empathy and trust that the welfare system is operated reasonably according to common-sense standards without being unfairly abused will citizens willingly extend a hand of solidarity and bear the financial burden."
On October 28, President Lee cited a post from "FM Korea" (Femco), a strongly conservative online community, on X and stated that he would review whether to abolish preferential treatment systems for multicultural families. As controversy arose, he has been posting messages rebutting criticisms every day for four consecutive days starting the following day.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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