Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party presidential candidate, said in his second televised speech on the 20th, “It is becoming a very difficult era even to build and protect a normal family,” and added, “With the heart of protecting my wife and family, I will gift the people with a healthy and happy life.”
In his speech broadcast on TV Chosun at 8:55 p.m. that day, Kim noted, “You have no idea how tough it is these days. Traveling around the country and meeting the people, I can only feel truly sorry and ashamed.”
He continued, “Having worked my whole life in labor movements, politics, and public office, I have received a lot thanks to my wife and family,” adding, “Even while I was in prison for two and a half years, my wife raised our daughter Dong-joo well and kept the family together.”
He also expressed deep feelings toward his daughter Kim Dong-joo, who works as a social worker. Kim said, “Seeing my daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter living healthily and happily while doing a hard job with not much pay, I can only feel proud and grateful.”
He added, “It has become a very difficult era even to build a normal family,” promising to change the reality where young people are unable to marry, let alone have children.
Kim recalled, “I started my newlywed life in a one-room apartment in a mountain village in Bongcheon-dong, and with a child, living day by day was truly exhausting,” and pledged to supply housing for young couples under the ‘3·3·3 Housing’ scheme, which supports housing costs or loan interest for 3 to 9 years and easing income criteria for tailored loans for newlyweds, as well as creating the ‘First Step Account for Our Children’ to support asset formation until the age of 17.
He shared a story about how he first started the daycare business in Gwangmyeong upon seeing his wife struggling to balance work and parenting, noting that it has now spread nationwide and has become the foundation of today’s kindergartens, and said he would also push for promises such as ▲supporting flexible work arrangements for parental leave ▲expanding parental leave ▲increasing paid child care leave.
Kim emphasized that “taking care of the lives of the elderly is also an important task in protecting families,” pledging to expand the hours of senior day care centers ▲apply health insurance to nursing home care expenses ▲expand silver towns for ordinary and middle-class citizens ▲and increase job opportunities for the elderly.
He also stressed, “Preserving family values is one of the difficult assignments of our time.” Kim stated, “I believe that social minorities should not be discriminated against, and while providing warmer support, I will make sure that the precious values we have maintained do not collapse.”
In particular, he referred to former Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung's remarks stating, “I will ensure that sexual minorities make up more than 30% of public institutions and financial institutions and establish a discrimination prevention law,” saying, “I also think that no one should be discriminated against because they are a sexual minority, but if we give privileges for employment solely based on being a sexual minority, wouldn’t that be reverse discrimination against those who are not?”
He implored, “Please carefully consider who is the candidate to preserve our family's ordinary daily life.”