Lee Jae-myung: ‘Meoksanism is the only ideology’

Former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee Jae-myung, announced his candidacy for a second term as the party's leader Wednesday, saying, "'Meoksanism' (the issue of livelihoods) should be the only ideology." He proposed a growth model that promotes new growth engines such as the ‘energy highway’ (national power grid of renewable energy based on artificial intelligence (AI)) and seeks to complete a ‘basic society’ where the state guarantees the basic income of the public in preparation for the ‘AI and robotics era.’

Regarding the government's comprehensive real estate tax reform plan, Lee said for the first time that “The time has come to fundamentally consider (reform)." In political circles, the candidate's declaration of candidacy was, in effect, an announcement of his candidacy for the next presidential election.

From the beginning of his manifesto, Lee focused on fleshing out his so-called ‘new growth theory.’ "In the era of full-scale energy transition, we need to equip the renewable energy production and supply system properly," Lee said, adding, "We need to build an 'energy highway' or an AI-based intelligent power grid across the country with major investment spearheaded by the state.” The idea is to create eco-friendly high-tech power generation complexes such as wind farms and solar power plants tailored to local characteristics and create a supply chain that transports their energy to various parts of the country to increase jobs and induce balanced regional development.

"Rather than criticizing President Yoon Suk Yeol and the ruling party, Lee's manifesto focused on conveying his commitment as the head of an alternative party to take charge of the country," said a source close to Lee, adding, "It can be effectively considered the declaration of his presidential bid."


Sung-Hwi Kang yolo@donga.com