On January 23, the Mayor of Seongnam-si Lee Jae-myung (53), a member of the Minjoo Party of Korea, announced his presidential bid in front of a factory where he had worked as a minor, saying, “I will be the first laborer to become the president of the Republic of Korea.” He introduced his colorful life including his birth into a poor family and his experience as a minor worker and said, “I will be happy when everyone can live well in a fair environment.”

Lee presented the “Lee Jae-myung-style New Deal growth policies” including the basic income policy and promised strong social reforms, such as the eradication of the pro-Japanese forces, dictatorship, and corruption as well as the dissolution of the chaebol.

This day in front of the Orient watch factory in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Lee declared his candidacy saying, “I announce my running in the nineteenth presidential election according to the wishes of a boy worker, who had suffered intense labor here.”

The place where he made his declaration was where he had worked for over two years since he was fifteen years old. Lee said, “This was the workplace of a poor boy who had headed to work at factories instead of school holding his mother’s hand since the age of twelve.” When describing the reason for his presidential bid, Lee shared his past, mentioning how he had made two suicide attempts, giving up on life after he injured his left arm in an accident with the press machine while working at the factory.

His key message was “a fair society.” He said, “Making a fair society is the dream of my life. Regardless of whether you are strong or weak, I will make a country where everyone is equal before the law. In the Lee Jae-myung government, there will be no such thing as a pardon for Park Geun-hye and Lee Jae-yong.” He stressed that he would become “the most honest and upright president in history,” “a president for the vulnerable,” “the first president to liquidate the pro-Japanese, dictatorship, and corruption,” “a president that will fight against taboo, injustice and people with vested interests,” and “a president who keeps his promise.”

As for his economic policies, he proposed a Lee Jae-myung-style New Deal growth policy focusing on raising taxes, expanding welfare, and dissolving the chaebol.

He said he would spend a budget of 28 trillion won every year to offer a basic income of 1 million won to 28 million people including those under the age of 29 and over the age of 65, farmers and fishermen, and the disabled.

He also said he would create a land possession tax and provide land dividends of 300,000 won for 95% of the citizens.

In foreign relations, he argued for an independent and balanced foreign policy centered on national interests. He said, “We need to stand up to U.S. demands for an excessive increase in funds to shoulder the cost of the U.S. Forces in Korea by demanding that they decrease the amount, and we need to withdraw the decision to place the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles in our country, which do not contribute to our security and only cause economic harm.”

“The comfort women agreement with Japan was invalid from the start and the General Security of Military Information Agreement with Japan must be terminated,” he added.

Lee aimed at former party leader Moon Jae-in, a strong candidate for the Minjoo Party, and said, “We cannot overcome this crisis by simply claiming that there’s nothing we can do despite the placing of the THAAD system being a mistake.” He also criticized, “The people will be able to distinguish a person who is passive in raising the corporate tax.” “I proved I could expand my support base by persuading the Bundang residents. I will bring a new government into office by joining forces with other groups in the opposition,” he said and presented his ability to expand his support base and his competitiveness as his advantage.

When Lee declared his presidential bid, his mother was present in a wheelchair along with a large number of his family. Lee introduced his older brother, who had his leg severed while working as a day laborer, along with his other brothers who worked as a care worker, an employee at a cleaning company, a street cleaner and a yoghurt delivery person. He choked up when he mentioned the tough times his mother had suffered.

He described his feud with his third brother saying, “I suffered humiliation and cut off my relationship with my brother, because I tried to block him from trying to intervene in city affairs.”

Over three hundred Lee Jae-myung supporters including the “Revolutionary Fingers” cheered him while holding picket signs with the words, “Go, Lee Jae-myung!” Lawmakers Jung Sung-ho, Je Youn-kyung. and Kim Young-jin and former lawmaker Kim Ki-joon were present from the Minjoo Party.