No Tolerating Unfairness in the Name of Protecting Minorities

President Lee Jae-myung stated on X on the 1st regarding support policies for multicultural families, "We must not leave unfair elements unaddressed under the pretext of protecting minorities." The president stressed that unreasonable aspects of the system should be proactively corrected. Earlier, on the 28th of last month, he shared a post on FM Korea and mentioned reviewing the abolition of preferential programs for multicultural families. When concerns subsequently arose about discrimination and exclusion of the socially vulnerable, he has been posting rebuttals on social networking services for four consecutive days.

President Lee said, "What is needed now is not a traditional social safety net that merely patches up the holes, but a future-oriented 'social safety mattress' that supports every citizen's life without gaps."

He emphasized, "Listening to voices that some multicultural family support policies have problems that are hard to accept, and correcting them if problems exist, cannot be a measure that excludes or discriminates against multicultural families." He added, "Vigorous debate based on facts and reason not only helps social progress but is also the best preventive medicine against incitement and hatred rooted in fabrication and blind obedience."

President Lee added, "Consideration for the socially vulnerable, including multicultural families, is a duty of our community that must duly be upheld," and "Only when supported by 'empathy and trust'—that welfare programs are not unfairly abused and are operated rationally by common-sense standards—will citizens readily extend a hand of solidarity and bear the financial burden."

This statement broadens the debate into a question of fairness across welfare policy as a whole.