Despite Controversy, 20,000 Won Communication Fee Payment Without Changes

Choi In-ho, Senior Spokesperson of the Democratic Party, "An Issue Already Decided Through Party-Government Consultations"
Cheong Lee Ho-seung, Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs, "Isn't It an Amount That Doesn't Meaninglessly Evaporate?"
Concerns Persist Inside and Outside the Political Sphere

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Amid controversy over the '20,000 KRW nationwide communication fee payment' within and outside the political sphere, the Democratic Party of Korea and the government have reiterated their stance to support the communication fees as originally planned. They dismissed opposition opinions mainly from opposition parties.

Choi In-ho, the chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party, said to reporters after a private meeting on the afternoon of the 13th, "The decision has already been made through consultations between the party and the government," adding, "It has already been submitted to the National Assembly, hasn't it? There was no discussion related to that today. It was not a matter for discussion." Earlier that day, Lee Nak-yeon, the leader of the Democratic Party, convened a private meeting of the Supreme Council members. Since the meeting was not on the official schedule, it was widely expected that the issue of the '20,000 KRW communication fee' would be discussed during the meeting.

The Blue House also lent its support. Lee Ho-seung, the Blue House economic chief, said in an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 14th, "If a family has three or four middle school students or older, wouldn't the communication fee reduction amount be around 60,000 to 80,000 KRW?" He added, "That amount does not just disappear meaninglessly from the bank account." Lee pointed out, "From the perspective of ordinary citizens who have to pay communication fees every month, it is hard to readily understand the claim that the amount is insignificant."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, critical voices continue to emerge within and outside the political sphere. The opposition parties are maintaining strong opposition. Choo Kyung-ho, the opposition party's secretary of the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Special Committee and a member of the People Power Party, said in an interview with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the same day, "It is an indiscriminate populist budget allocation."

Ahn Cheol-soo, the leader of the People’s Party, also stated at the Supreme Council meeting that day, "It seems the indiscriminate 20,000 KRW communication fee support plan will ultimately be pushed through," and argued, "The 900 billion KRW communication fee support budget should be redirected to emergency livelihood support."

Even within the ruling party, opinions calling for reconsideration were raised. Following Lee Jae-myung, governor of Gyeonggi Province and a leading presidential candidate, Kim Kyung-soo, governor of Gyeongnam Province and a key figure of the pro-Moon (pro-Moon Jae-in) faction, also expressed opposition. After Lee pointed out on the 10th that "the 20,000 KRW communication fee payment has no multiplier effect," Kim proposed on the 12th, "I suggest investing the 20,000 KRW communication fee payment budget in expanding free nationwide Wi-Fi networks."

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