President Lee: "Some multicultural family policies must not result in reverse discrimination against domestic families..."

"Ensuring that multicultural families do not face discrimination is a necessary policy and should naturally continue"
Criticism arises that expressing them as opposing concepts is inaccurate
President Lee Jae-myung delivers a memorial address at the 4th anniversary memorial service for the October 29 Itaewon tragedy held at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul on the 29th. Blue House Press Corps
On the 29th, President Lee Jae-myung stated, "While ensuring that multicultural families are not discriminated against compared to domestic families is a necessary policy that should naturally continue, some policies must not deviate from their original intent to become excessive, leading to preferential treatment or reverse discrimination against domestic families."
On X (formerly Twitter) that day, President Lee added, "Excessive specific policies undermine trust in policy in general, so if there is a problem, it is right to correct it promptly, regardless of who raises it."
The day before, while sharing a post from 'FM Korea'—a conservative-leaning online community with a high proportion of young men—regarding preferential postpartum care center systems for multicultural families, President Lee wrote, "I will conduct a deep review, including consultations with local governments and potential amendments to enforcement decrees, regarding whether there is a significant need to go beyond ensuring multicultural families are not harmed to providing preferential treatment, or whether the abolition of preferential systems is necessary." He posted again today following criticisms that such remarks could strengthen discrimination and exclusion against the socially vulnerable.
President Lee stated, "Since the goal of supporting the socially vulnerable is to restore equality by filling in the gaps that fall below the general average, it is essential to ensure it does not become preferential treatment or undue advantage," and added, "Correcting the excess in some policies must not be misconstrued as a measure that triggers general discrimination or hatred toward multicultural families." Regarding the sharing of the FM Korea post, he asserted, "The essence of the problem does not change depending on who points it out, nor should it."
However, critics point out that President Lee's expression of 'multicultural families' and 'domestic families' as opposing concepts is inaccurate. Ahn Gun-su, director of the Migrant Workers' Human Rights Center, said, "The system in question is not about supporting migrants, but about supporting the children of those who married and came to Korea—in other words, our citizens," and added, "It is natural to support them so they can adapt well to our society. They are our citizens, and helping them live well stabilizes the nation as a whole."
In particular, the Blue House, in a media notice earlier that day, explained the intent of President Lee's remarks, stating, "The core point is not to abolish support for multicultural families, but to review whether any parts may be perceived as reverse discrimination by our citizens." They later revised this, removing the term 'reverse discrimination' and stating, "The President raised the need to improve the support system into one that all birthing families can empathize with by increasing the fairness and rationality of priority in using postpartum care centers." Although the Blue House deleted the term 'reverse discrimination' during the clarification process, President Lee emphasized again today that "it must not become reverse discrimination against domestic families."