Lee Jae-myung vs. Choo Mi-ae... Result: '2:0 in President Lee's favor?'

As President Lee Jae-myung and Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae have clashed publicly through SNS, the personnel appointment of Kim Ji-yong as chief of the National Investigation Service and the issue of Gyeonggi Province's childcare budget have both developed in directions contrary to Governor Choo's original position.

According to political circles on the 16th, President Lee approved the appointment of Kim Ji-yong, the first inaugural chief of the National Investigation Service, the previous day. This followed the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Administration and Safety adopting a personnel hearing report with both "qualified" and "unqualified" opinions, with the president maintaining his original personnel decision despite internal opposition from the ruling party.

Governor Choo had publicly opposed Kim as a candidate through SNS, arguing he was unsuitable for the position of chief of the National Investigation Service. President Lee also countered on SNS on the 30th of last month, stating that Kim's anti-Yoon Suk-yeol track record was already confirmed through press reports, and the Presidential Office stated that no change from the existing judgment was found following additional verification.

The conflict intensified on the 9th. President Lee wrote on SNS: "It is more problematic when people without competence demand high positions and, when their attempts to impose their will on personnel and state policies don't work out, resort to radical reform as a pretext for internal attacks."

While not directly naming Governor Choo, the statement was interpreted as targeting hardliners within the ruling party who had opposed Kim's appointment.

On the 11th, President Lee posted a statement criticizing high-ranking officials who were cutting common people's welfare budgets.

President Lee stated: "While enjoying all luxuries with the blood-soaked taxes of ordinary citizens, these people are harsher to the powerless and shamelessly cut small-scale livelihood welfare budgets."

At the time, Governor Choo was facing controversy following Gyeonggi Province's financial emergency declaration over childcare budget issues and a 1.2 billion won official residence usage problem. For this reason, political circles interpreted President Lee's statement as targeting Governor Choo.

Earlier, Governor Choo posted on SNS on the 10th: "I will protect childcare facilities to the end," explaining that she had not arbitrarily cut childcare budgets. However, in the post, she explained a plan to reduce the childcare facility operational support fee from 12,600 won per child per month to 6,000 won, approximately a 52.4% reduction.

Governor Choo explained this as an inevitable adjustment considering national funding support of 1 million won per facility per month, but the opposition from childcare facility operators did not subside.

The Gyeonggi Province Childcare Center Association opposed the plan, stating it was content they had previously stated was unacceptable before the rally. The association had held large-scale rallies in front of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office for four days from the 6th to the 8th, demanding maintenance of existing support levels.

Eventually, on the 12th, the day after President Lee's SNS statement regarding common people's welfare budgets, the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly passed a revised bill for the second supplementary budget, reflecting an additional 2.7 billion won in childcare budgets.

This was a budget omitted from the province's originally submitted supplementary budget proposal, and Governor Choo agreed to the increase following negotiations with the provincial assembly. A total of 21.6 billion won in livelihood budgets, including childcare budgets, were additionally reflected.

Governor Choo again posted on SNS that day with the heading: "Working together with the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly, we have protected the precious livelihood budget."

Two days earlier, she had expressed an intention to reduce operational support unit prices citing fiscal conditions, while after the budget increase, she presented this as an achievement in protecting livelihood budgets.

During the budget process, childcare facility operators' grievances even escalated to calls for Governor Choo's resignation. When the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly's plenary session was repeatedly postponed on the 12th, some residents opposed the matter, raising concerns about resignation and recall elections.

As a result, Kim Ji-yong's appointment was confirmed as President Lee's original decision, and Gyeonggi Province's childcare budget was adjusted to secure additional funding, contrary to Governor Choo's proposed reduction in support unit prices.

A political circle official stated: "Administrators should be evaluated on the results of their policies and administration, but if they pour out everything they want to say through SNS, they may face situations where they cannot actually take responsibility for those statements," adding: "Rather than escalating political debate and conflict, the basic direction of national and provincial administration should shift toward alleviating public anxiety and enhancing administrative stability and trust."