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Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung announces his presidential bid in a video message Thursday. (Yonhap News)

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung on Thursday announced his bid for the presidency of South Korea. Lee asked Korean voters to equip him to “apply my proven abilities for our country.”

After losing in the Democratic Party’s presidential primary on April 3, 2017, Lee pledged to “return after building a dream for a new world.” In the video he released to announce his presidential ambitions, in lieu of an in-person event, Lee explained why he wants to be president and what he means to do if elected.

The words that appeared the most in Lee’s video announcement were “economy” (18 times) and “growth” (11 times). Korea is currently in a crisis, Lee said, because of “unfairness and polarization.” He unveiled a plan for solving those problems through a “fair economy” and “growth.”

“We members of the older generation lived in a world where, despite hardships, we had new challenges to undertake, and the belief that tomorrow would be better. But people in Korea today are facing a crisis,” Lee said.

“We need to move toward a world in which everyone lives together in unity through a politics that punches up, embracing the weak and moderating the greed of the powerful, who depend on privilege and rule-breaking.”

“The reason we’re dealing with low growth despite having more capital, better technology, and finer workers than ever before is because of unfairness and inequality. A winner-takes-all type of unlimited competition, in which only the strong survive, has become our routine. We must cut that Gordian knot and find a path through the wilderness,” Lee said..

Lee, who believes that unfairness and polarization are distorting competition and the efficient distribution of resources, promised to “immediately initiate a powerful economic stimulus policy to turn a paradigmatic crisis into an opportunity for rejuvenating the economy.”

“I will increase the number of good jobs and expand the state finances by shifting to groundbreaking industries for the economy of the future, thereby laying the foundation for a universal welfare state,” he said.

Lee adopted the narrative of growth, a common refrain of the conservatives, while promising to build “a society in which everyone enjoys a minimum level of economic abundance.”

The Gyeonggi Province governor also brought up basic income, which has become his signature issue. “I will build a society in which everyone can enjoy a minimum level of economic abundance while doing what they want to do.”

As for housing policy, Lee vowed to provide “enough basic housing” and “an appropriate amount of housing through the lottery system.”

Lee also said he will rationalize the labor market so that people are guaranteed to receive the same wages for the same work and restore “balance and common sense through a grand bargain in society” in various areas of conflict, including the issue of regular and irregular jobs.

“I only make promises I can keep, and I’ve kept all the promises I’ve made,” Lee said, highlighting his achievements during his three years as governor of Gyeonggi Province, which include removing shacks build near streams without permits, setting up a “youth dividend,” and providing disaster relief payments to residents of the province.

“I faced numerous crises growing up in a disadvantaged family outside of the mainstream. But I turned those crises into opportunities that have led to these successes. It is I, Lee Jae-myung, who can turn a country in crisis into a haven of hope,” Lee said, in a voice full of confidence.

In terms of his political approach, Lee said he would “open the door to a politics of competition in which people vie to do the best job, rather than a politics of strife in which us-and-them thinking and partisan interests cause people to choose the lesser evil and wait for the other side to make a mistake.”

“I won’t be a ‘leader’ who lectures the people but a toiler who stands for the voters. I won’t be far away up there, but over here, by your side. When times are tough, I’ll be walking the walk, at the head of the line, taking my licks and taking responsibility,” Lee said.

“As the fourth president from the Democratic Party, I will show the public a new and more capable government. Standing to adopt the proud foundation laid by [former presidents] Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun and [current president] Moon Jae-in, I will add what is needed, fill in what is missing, and fix what is broken.”

Lee recognized the mistakes of the Moon administration, promising to make the necessary corrections and completely reinvent the government.

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

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