Lee vows to expand support for border regions
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a town hall meeting with Gangwon residents in Chuncheon, Gaongwon Province, Friday. Yonhap
President Lee Jae Myung said Friday the government will step up support for regions bordering North Korea to compensate for their sacrifices and promote balanced regional growth.
Lee made the remarks during a town hall meeting with residents in Gangwon Province, located south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.
"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," Lee said at the event in Chuncheon, about 85 kilometers northeast of Seoul.
"Although we cannot fully compensate for the special sacrifices borne by border regions like Gangwon, we will make every effort to ensure that living in Gangwon no longer feels unfair," he added.
Lee criticized past governments for imposing excessive restrictions on border areas without providing fair compensation, calling the practice "unjust."
He said the government will expand education, cultural and welfare infrastructure to improve living conditions in the region while pursuing balanced national development.
After the meeting, Lee visited a front-line Army unit in Hwacheon, about 118 km northeast of Seoul, and received briefings on military readiness, vice presidential spokesperson Ahn Gwi-ryeong said in a written briefing.
He was accompanied by Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back to visit an observatory and a guard post located just south of the DMZ, she said.