President Lee: "Will Review Whether Seoul and Other Local Governments Should End Preferential Treatment for Multicultural Families" (Updated)

Lee: "We Must Guard Against Extreme Partisanship, Whether on the Left or the Right"

President Lee Jaemyung said on October 28, "The preferential treatment policies for multicultural families adopted by some local governments, including the Seoul Metropolitan Government, have become a problem." He added, "I will carefully review, including through consultations with local governments and revisions to enforcement decrees, whether special preferential treatment is necessary beyond ensuring that multicultural families are not disadvantaged, and whether these policies should be abolished."

President Lee made the remarks after sharing on his X account (formerly Twitter) a post from the online community FM Korea (also known as Femco). The post argued that it was problematic for mothers from multicultural families and mothers of national merit recipients to have the same second-priority ranking for reservations at Seoul-style safe postpartum care centers.

President Lee also thanked the author of the post, saying, "Thank you for raising a good point."

President Lee Jaemyung. Courtesy of Yonhap News.

FM Korea is an online community used mainly by men in their 20s and 30s. It is generally considered conservative and known as a place where opinions unfriendly toward President Lee are voiced.

When an X user criticized him, saying, in effect, "Why do you get into arguments with your supporters but listen to people who won't support you, calling what they say a good point?" President Lee responded to that criticism as well.

President Lee said, "Whether they support or oppose the president, everyone is a citizen of the Republic of Korea and a sovereign." He added, "A good point is a good point, whoever makes it, and wrongdoing must be corrected regardless of whether someone is on your side or not."

He continued, "Political camps matter only because of their values and aspirations; whether on the left or the right, we must guard against extreme partisanship." He added, "If we turn a blind eye to wrongdoing by our own side and criticize the other side even when it does something right, extreme confrontation and hostility will expand without limit in the Republic of Korea, darkening its future."

He added, "Treating all citizens equally and fairly is the minimum responsibility of public officials."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.