Lee In-young "Im Mi-ri Controversy, Sorry for Causing Concern... Will Revive the Stagnant People's Economy"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Lee In-young, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, emphasized the government and ruling party's efforts to overcome the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis during the parliamentary negotiation group leaders' speech on the 18th, stating, "We will revive the vitality of the ordinary people's economy." Regarding the controversy over the accusation of Lim Miri, a research professor at Korea University, he expressed an apology, saying, "We will not ignore the critical voices of the public directed at our Democratic Party."

In his speech at the National Assembly negotiation group leaders' session that morning, Leader Lee said, "Fear of infectious diseases should not lead to economic contraction."

He explained, "To alleviate sudden damages even slightly, the Democratic Party and the government are making every effort. Starting from the 13th, we began supplying 45 billion won in management stabilization funds and 205 billion won in special guarantees for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners facing immediate crises."

He continued, "Additionally, we plan to reduce the interest rate on emergency management stabilization funds from 2.65% to 2.15%, and the loan interest rate for the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid from 3.4% to 2.9%, lowering the financial burden on small business owners by up to 0.5 percentage points, and extend the maturity period."

Leader Lee diagnosed, "The biggest risk factor for our economy right now is the downward pressure on the economy caused by the COVID-19 situation," and requested the government side, "Please calculate the required amount of funds for each item regarding the 100 billion won contingency fund and submit it to the National Assembly."

Regarding the controversy over the withdrawal of the accusation against Lim Miri, a research professor at Korea University, Leader Lee said, "As the floor leader of the ruling party, I apologize for causing concern and will focus on people's livelihoods with a lower and more humble attitude."

He stated, "From prosecutorial reform, housing price stabilization, to the recent controversy surrounding Professor Lim Miri, we will not ignore the critical voices of the public directed at the Democratic Party," adding, "Before blaming anyone, we will reflect on ourselves."

He added, "We also understand well that communicating with the public based solely on our internal convictions cannot gain broad public consent," and said, "The Democratic Party takes seriously the public's voice that the ruling party should aim for higher values and embrace more inclusively."

Leader Lee also emphasized the creation of 'jobs through innovation' and 'win-win jobs.' He said, "The main agents of job creation are private companies," and added, "Especially, the Data 3 Act, which had been a long-standing wish of the data industry, financial sector, and venture industry, was passed by the National Assembly on January 9. We will provide all policy support to make this a new turning point for creating new industries in the fields of Data, Network, and Artificial Intelligence (DNA: Data-Network-AI)."

He continued, "So far, through seven win-win job projects, a total investment of 2.9 trillion won and 9,800 direct employments are expected," and said, "We will make further efforts to successfully implement win-win job projects in various regions such as Goesan in Chungbuk, Sinan in Jeonnam, Iksan in Jeonbuk, and Pohang in Gyeongbuk."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Leader Lee also promised to support the expansion of sales for small business owners. He said, "The Democratic Party will double the size of exclusive gift certificates for local shopping districts, such as Onnuri gift certificates and local love gift certificates, from 5.5 trillion won this year to 10.5 trillion won by 2024."

He added, "We will expand support for small business owners to enter online platforms such as internet shopping malls and TV home shopping, and make Zero Pay more convenient, significantly increasing the number of affiliated stores to 2 million by 2024 to drastically reduce card commission fees."

Leader Lee also pledged to work on stabilizing youth housing and jobs. He said, "Among the third phase new towns in the metropolitan area, we plan to build 50,000 houses near subway stations and 40,000 houses in old downtown areas equipped with jobs and cultural facilities," adding, "We will actively promote the supply of 10,000 houses using national and public land such as the Yongsan railway site."

He also said, "We will create a Korean-style 'Entremitant' system, an employment insurance for artists, to enable young cultural and artistic workers to continue creative production activities," and added, "We will also expand the support targets for creative encouragement grants."

Leader Lee spoke about the so-called 'Telegram N-bunbang' case, where young women were threatened to film sexually exploitative videos and these were distributed in numerous Telegram chat rooms. He pointed out, "Victims had no defense as sexually exploitative materials rapidly spread through smartphones, destroying their lives. This collective crime, which produced numerous victims, can be regarded as a '21st-century human trafficking'."

He continued, "The Child and Youth Sexual Protection Act, the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes, and the Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes and Protection of Victims are pending in the National Assembly," emphasizing, "These bills must be processed in the February extraordinary session to eradicate digital sex crimes by the National Assembly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.