Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung announced that his administration will enhance support for regions bordering North Korea, addressing both compensation for their sacrifices and the promotion of balanced regional growth.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee made these remarks during a town hall meeting with residents in Gangwon Province, which lies south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. During the event held in Chuncheon, about 85 kilometers northeast of Seoul, he acknowledged the dual nature of Gangwon as a major tourist destination and a region suffering significant sacrifices due to inter-Korean tensions.
Lee stated, "Gangwon is the nation's largest tourist destination, but at the same time, it is also a region that has borne enormous sacrifices due to the inter-Korean confrontation." He further emphasized the need to make living in Gangwon feel fair by committing to efforts that, although unable to fully compensate for the sacrifices, aim to alleviate the sense of injustice experienced by residents.
Highlighting the injustices of past administrations, Lee criticized previous governments for imposing excessive restrictions on border areas without fair compensation. He described these practices as "unjust" and outlined plans to expand educational, cultural, and welfare infrastructure to improve living conditions in these regions while ensuring balanced national development.
Following the town hall meeting, Lee visited a front-line Army unit in Hwacheon, approximately 118 kilometers northeast of Seoul. There, he received briefings on military readiness, as conveyed in a written briefing by vice presidential spokesperson Ahn Gwi-ryeong. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back accompanied Lee to visit an observatory and a guard post located just south of the DMZ, underscoring the administration's focus on both civilian and military aspects of border region management.