Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae: "President's Social Media Post Was Not Aimed at Me"

[Anchor]

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae has repeatedly expressed her opposition to Kim Ji-yong, candidate for head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SCIA), during a parliamentary audit. She also stated that a social media post by President Lee Jae-myung criticizing officials who "live in luxury while cutting livelihood budgets" was "not directed at her."

Here is reporter Choi Ho-won with the details.

[Reporter]

The parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee was held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government office.

Opposition lawmakers pressed Governor Choo, who has voiced opposition to SCIA candidate Kim Ji-yong, questioning whether she was "more interested in central politics."

[Park Sang-woong / People Power Party Lawmaker: There are also concerns that you may have lacked the mindset to properly attend to the desperate voices of Gyeonggi residents while spending time criticizing the SCIA candidate.]

Governor Choo reiterated her stance on candidate Kim, stating, "He is a pro-Yoon prosecutor and profoundly unsuitable," and added, "If someone who knows this remains silent, it will be a historical mistake."

The province's sweeping cuts to livelihood budgets, justified by financial difficulties, also came under scrutiny.

In particular, regarding a social media post uploaded by President Lee Jae-myung the day before yesterday stating that officials "live in luxury while cutting welfare budgets for ordinary citizens," Governor Choo responded as follows:

[Choo Mi-ae / Gyeonggi Province Governor: I do not believe it was aimed at me. In fact, I went through difficult times myself—to the extent that my mother could not raise me directly and had to place me in foster care. Because I have never lived a life where I was ignorant of people's livelihoods or caused harm to others through luxury, I do not think it was directed at me.]

Ruling party lawmakers also pointed out that Gyeonggi Province's debt-to-budget ratio stands at just 12%, noting that Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho-joong had assessed the situation as "not a fiscal crisis."

[Chae Hyun-il / Democratic Party Lawmaker: After (Gyeonggi Province) declared a fiscal emergency, residents were quite confused, and it was a baffling situation for us in the Democratic Party, the ruling party.]

In addition, lawmakers warned that Gyeonggi Province's reduction of provincial funding support for cities and counties could amount to shifting financial burdens onto them, suggesting that basic local governments actively utilize alternatives such as hometown love donation programs to cover funding shortfalls.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.