Nam Kyung-pil's First Step: 'Embracing the Hearts of Sewol Ferry Victims'

Nam Kyung-pil (49), the governor-elect who was chosen by Gyeonggi Province residents in the June 4 nationwide local elections, took his first steps as governor-elect by embracing the sentiments of Sewol ferry victims.

Governor-elect Nam visited the War Memorial of Korea in Paldal-gu, Suwon City at around 10 a.m. on the 5th to pay respects. Then at around 2:30 p.m., he visited the government's joint memorial altar for Sewol ferry victims together with incumbent Governor Kim Moon-soo and laid flowers and paid respects to the deceased.

He wrote "I will not forget. Gyeonggi Province governor-elect Nam Kyung-pil" in the guestbook at the memorial site.

Governor-elect Nam, along with Governor Kim, Eom Ki-young, president of the Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation, and others, toured the tent erected at the memorial site to encourage volunteers. He also visited the families' waiting room and greeted each bereaved family member individually.

Next, he visited the office of the bereaved families' countermeasures committee set up at the Gyeonggi Museum of Art and held a meeting with bereaved families for approximately 40 minutes. The representatives of the bereaved families' countermeasures committee were away in Paengmok Port in Jindo, Jeollanam Province due to a national investigation, so only about 10 bereaved family members attended the meeting.

At the meeting, the bereaved families reportedly expressed their difficulties to Governor-elect Nam and requested that he make efforts to recover from the Sewol ferry disaster damages while running provincial governance in the future.

The fact that Governor-elect Nam visited the joint memorial altar for Sewol ferry victims as his first official schedule after winning the election appears to be an effort to reaffirm his commitment to "change and innovation," which he emphasized during his campaign.

Given that Governor-elect Nam faced strong national criticism during the campaign regarding the (local) government's incompetence in response to the Sewol ferry disaster, it is known that he plans to organize the transition team in a direction that can substantively prepare disaster and safety measures and civil service reforms.