Shin Baek-hoon, Doctor of Confucian Philosophy & Representative of Jeongik AcademyDear Citizens,

Today, I leave these words as a 'righteous soldier' and as a grandfather.

I will not accept the second round of COVID-19 relief funds.

This decision is not merely about money; it is a declaration of conscience, stating that I cannot condone or be an accomplice to the Lee Jae-myung administration's criminal populism and economic tyranny.

The Lee Jae-myung administration is deceiving the people under the guise of helping them.

Without even understanding the difference between 'national debt (D1)' and 'national liabilities (D2),' they scatter tax money as if it were their own patronage to curry favor.

This is not an act of helping the people, but an act of purchasing their sovereignty.

My wife is a person who has lived frugally her entire life. She chided me this time, saying, "What are you trying to prove? Lee Jae-myung will call you crazy for not accepting it."

However, I replied, "Then I will gladly be that 'crazy' person. It is better to walk the right path alone than to remain silent while the nation collapses."

I recall the tragedy of Venezuela. That nation, by pacifying its citizens with welfare and subsidies, ultimately collapsed under hyperinflation.

Citizens who fled to the United States became homeless in front of border walls, and one of them said, "I'm waiting for the government to give us more subsidies."

That single sentence was a cry of broken human dignity. Lee Jae-myung's populism is heading down that very path.

By not accepting this subsidy, I do not, in any way, blame my wife or the citizens who have accepted it.

However, we must all awaken.

I leave these words with the desperate heart of someone clinging to a straw, determined not to leave 'the legacy of a fallen nation' to our grandchildren's generation.

Today's refusal is a minimum resistance to protect tomorrow's conscience.

Citizens, money cannot save a nation. Conscience saves a nation.

Welfare without moderation and morality is the path to national ruin, and subsidies imposed by the indulgence of power will become chains for future generations.

I denounce the Lee Jae-myung administration's shamelessness, irresponsibility, and its deceptive populism (人⼼收買) in the name of the people.

Citizens, awaken!

Lee Jae-myung, resign!

Descendants, on the day you read this, you will know. Your grandfather refused Lee Jae-myung's money and chose the conscience of the Republic of Korea.

Shin Baek-hoon, Doctor of Confucian Philosophy & Representative of Jeongik Academy

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